PORT ST. LUCIE — Oh, the horror.
Jacob deGrom was allowed to stay in the game for a third inning of work Saturday for the Mets and ended up allowing a run on two hits. What’s wrong with this guy?
Given the manner in which Matt Harvey pitched a day earlier and the lofty expectations for deGrom — the NL Rookie of the Year in 2014 — one run allowed over three innings, even in his Grapefruit League debut for this season, seemed like too much.
“I was pretty nervous going out there today,” deGrom said on a day the Mets beat the Braves, 3-1, at Tradition Field. “But I get nervous before every start. I think I just wanted to go out there and get my feet back under me today and get used to the adrenaline running and just work on things.”
DeGrom needed just 19 pitches over two perfect innings. When he returned to the dugout, manager Terry Collins asked if he wanted another inning, which deGrom accepted.
Eury Perez and Chris O’Dowd each singled against deGrom in the third, allowing the Braves to score a run on a fielder’s choice.
Harvey pitched two scoreless innings against the Tigers on Friday, with three strikeouts and 99 mph heat. The night before, Bartolo Colon gave the Mets two shutout innings against the Nationals.
But it was Harvey’s electric performance that was still fresh in deGrom’s mind.
“It motivates everybody,” deGrom said. “When you see a guy go out and throw like that, you want to go out and do the same thing, so I think it’s just motivation for everybody.”
DeGrom went 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts for the Mets last season after arriving from Triple-A Las Vegas on May 13. The fact he was just another young pitcher with a live arm in the Mets’ farm system at this time last year serves as a great motivational tool for Collins.
“We make a joke in our stretching lines, that last line is always some young pitchers, some rookies,” Collins said. “A couple of coaches have made reference to the fact that, ‘You guys have to get in that last line, because that was the line Jake deGrom was in last year.’ You look up and who is in that line now, but [Noah] Syndergaard.
“You never know when you are going to get your chance and you have got to go out and pitch and play the game right and if you play well enough you’re going to get people’s attention and you’re going to get a shot.”
DeGrom relied heavily on his changeup Saturday, but avoided throwing his curveball.
“[The changeup] was probably my best pitch, in my live BPs, too, so I’m really pleased with that,” deGrom said. “I throw that to righties and lefties, so that would be a big pitch to have going right into the season.”
For Collins, it’s all about deGrom moving up and down within the strike zone.
“The games you saw that he got some big strikeouts is because he’s so down in the zone that everybody looks down,” Collins said. “And he learned how to pitch up in the zone and change the eye level and start striking some people out.”