Mets veteran apologizes to Jacob deGrom after offense wastes another brilliant outing
It was the same old song and dance for the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta.
Their healthy ace, Jacob deGrom, pitched another absolute gem, limiting the first-place Atlanta Braves offense to one run on seven hits over seven innings. Meanwhile, the Mets offense completely disappeared, failing to score a single run in a 2-0 loss.
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The Mets offense was so bad, it failed to collect a hit against Braves rookie Mike Soroka until the seventh inning.
The dismal performance continued a string of production during deGrom’s starts that has been so dreadful, veteran third baseman Todd Frazier acknowledged pulling deGrom aside after the game to apologize for the offense continually wasting his brilliant performances.
What was Todd Frazier’s message to Jacob deGrom?
The apology was short and to the point, according to the New York Post.
“I told deGrom after the game: ‘Dude, I am sorry,’” Todd Frazier said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why we’re not producing for him.”
“We talk about trying too hard,” Frazier said. “Maybe we try too hard when he’s pitching, but a guy throws like that, he works fast, he was just dominant. Of course he is going to give up one run and everybody is human so, for us not to put up any runs for him again, I told him, ‘I’m sorry.’ I didn’t know what else to tell him.”
DeGrom, to his credit, hasn’t gone the Jake Arrieta route yet and completely lost it on the Mets offense. At least not outwardly. But he’s not hiding his frustration either.
“Nobody is happy that we’re losing,” deGrom said after Wednesday’s loss. “You have got to score runs to win, and we haven’t been doing that, so nobody is happy with what’s going on.”
How good has Jacob deGrom been this season?
Good enough to warrant early consideration for the National League Cy Young award.
He’s definitely matched perennial Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer start-for-start over the first 10 weeks, posting a 1.55 ERA with 113 strikeouts over 87 innings.
The 29-year-old right-hander has taken things to a different level over his last 10 starts, allowing six earned runs over 62.1 innings (0.87 ERA), while limiting opposing teams to an abysmal .198/.258/.257 batting line.
Based on those numbers, you might assume deGrom is among the league leaders in wins. Sadly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. After Wednesday’s loss, he’s only 4-2 on the season.
How bad has the Mets offense been at supporting Jacob deGrom?
Unfathomably bad.
In deGrom’s 14 starts this season, the Mets have scored a total of 31 runs while he was the pitcher of record. That’s barely over two runs per outing he’s had to work with.
During his dominant 10-start stretch, they’ve scored 19 runs total. In those games, the Mets managed to go 2-8 despite deGrom sporting an ERA under 1.00.
It’s no wonder Frazier felt like he owed deGrom an apology on behalf of the Mets offense. The Mets bullpen might want to consider doing the same. Despite the offensive struggles, deGrom has left the game in a position to win a handful times, only for the Mets relief corps to cough up the lead and ultimately the game.
It definitely takes a complete team failure to continually waste the performances deGrom has been turning in this season. Complete team failure is putting it lightly when it comes to the 2018 Mets.
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