Jacob deGrom was seen playing catch at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon, just hours removed from the right flexor tendinitis that sent Mets fans into a flurry of panic. DeGrom underwent an MRI that did not show any additional damage, meaning that as of now, he is still on track to pitch on Wednesday.
“He came in today and said he was fine,” Mets manager Luis Rojas opened in his Saturday pregame media availability. “We did the MRI this morning just out of precaution. It came back as we expected: clean. We’re just taking it day-by-day.”
DeGrom left Friday night’s win over the Padres after six innings and just 80 pitches, which set off alarm bells.
The two-time Cy Young winner told reporters after the game, though, that he thought he would be fine.
“I’m not too concerned about it because it didn’t get much worse as the game went on,” deGrom said of the tendinitis. “In the sixth inning when I was trying to loosen up, I could feel it. It was tightening up a little bit.”
He said the injury didn’t feel anything like when he dealt with a ligament tear early in his big-league career.
Rojas also tried to project confidence that his superstar ace would be just fine.
“I’m not concerned either, because Jake is not,” Rojas said. “This is a guy that knows his body really well. I’m glad that he was honest. We already went through a stint with him (on the IL), and we did that because he said how he was feeling.”
DeGrom lowered his ERA to a 0.56 — the lowest in baseball history through a pitcher’s first ten starts — after blanking San Diego for six innings in the Mets’ 3-2 win. The sweet-swinging pitcher also plated two runs with a fifth inning single. He now has more RBI as a hitter (5) then he does earned runs allowed (4) on the season.
GROUND GAME
As the Mets continue their excellence in home games, one thing is becoming an even rarer sight at Citi Field than a Mets loss.
Balls in the air are a dying breed against Mets pitching, who have a 45.9% ground ball rate heading into Saturday’s game. That ranks third among all major league staffs, trailing the Giants and Cubs. Three of the Mets starters — Marcus Stroman (National League-high 53.9%), David Peterson (51.9%), and deGrom (43.8%) — produce ground balls at a higher clip than the league average (43.5%).
The bullpen churns out its fair share of worm burners too. Jeurys Familia’s trademark sinker means that 57.1% of the batted balls against him this season have stayed on the ground. Jacob Barnes and Robert Gsellman both clock in above 50%, with Miguel Castro and Aaron Loup in the high 40s.
“We just went after good pitchers,” Rojas said of the Mets’ team-building strategy. “That’s what I think the approach was. A lot of our pitchers are more confident because of our personnel in the infield, but there hasn’t been any focus on bringing in more sinker ballers.”
In today’s homer-happy era, forcing ground balls is an easy way to frustrate fly ball hitters who are swinging for the fences. The sky-high ground ball rate, to no one’s surprise, has a direct correlation to run prevention. The Mets allow just 0.75 home runs per nine innings, the lowest mark in the league. Their collective 3.13 ERA is baseball’s second lowest, outpaced only by the Padres’ 2.96.
Stroman in particular has been a poster boy of ground ball pitching for his entire career. His NL-leading ground ball percentage this year is actually a departure from his 58.3% career average. Both of his 200-inning campaigns with Toronto included ground ball rates above 60 percent. Stroman keeps his infielders alert by throwing four out of five pitches that elicit heavy ground ball numbers. When batters make contact on his split-finger, sinker, cutter or slider, they can expect to roll over. According to Statcast data, each of those pitches results in a ground ball more than half the time they’re put in play.
“From the side, from our view, everything has depth,” Rojas said of watching Stroman from the dugout. “Sometimes you see a batter swinging out in front, and you think it’s a changeup. Then you look up at the radar and see that it was a sinker at 94 that just disappears. His stuff is unbelievable. That’s why batters tap it and get on top of it. He’s got that late, sinking movement.”
MCKINNEY PAYING DIVIDENDS
An RBI double in Friday night’s win gives outfielder Billy McKinney 12 RBI in his first 13 games as a Met. Since coming over from the Brewers in late May, ten of McKinney’s 13 hits have gone for extra bases. His .744 slugging percentage with his new team gives Rojas a clear-cut reason to keep him in the lineup, and the man in charge of lineup cards hinted that McKinney may soon have an expanded role.
“The quality of his at-bats has been the most surprising thing for me,” Rojas said of the Milwaukee castoff. “Wherever we put him, he’s responded really well. We’re going to throw him in center at some point, maybe when (Michael) Conforto comes back.”
McKinney was initially in Saturday’s starting lineup playing right field, but was a late scratch due to a sore right knee. Mason Williams replaced him, playing center field, with Kevin Pillar moving from center to right.
FINDING NIMMO
The hand injury that Brandon Nimmo feared was a nerve issue is in fact a small ligament tear. Despite the scary sounding diagnosis, this is welcome news for the Mets. Per Anthony DiComo, hand surgeon Dr. Thomas Brown informed Nimmo that the ligament should have no problem fully attaching itself to the bone in his finger where it normally stays. When that happens, it should be all systems go.
The ligament coming off the bone is what caused the swelling in what Nimmo referred to as a “freak injury.” If all goes well, the center fielder could be looking at a rehab assignment as soon as next week.