Gary Cohen mentioned in Sunday’s broadcast against the Dodgers that Jacob deGrom is sitting on an impressive 1.48 ERA at home in 2015. In 2014 it was just a touch above at 1.70, for a combined career average of 1.59. That is utter domination, folks. His combined 2.05 ERA for the season is now second-best only to the historic Zack Greinke, which as luck would have it, he faced on Sunday. While deGrom didn’t get the win thanks to a rare blown-save chance by Jeurys Familia, he did pitch better than his opposite and showed why he might just be a serious contender to Greinke’s assumed Cy Young award.
Greinke and deGrom share other close comparisons, particularly when it comes to playing at home. Greinke owns the best home-ERA record in the National League for the year at 1.46, while deGrom follows closely behind at 1.48. From there the next best home-ERA from anyone with five or more starts jumps to 1.68 by Tom Koehler of the Marlins. So it’s pretty clear that both Greinke and deGrom are doing something special when they toe the rubber in their respective cities, even when compared to other fantastic pitchers. And there’s plenty more.
deGrom is second in WHIP with 0.90 to Greinke’s NL-best 0.78. Both have only walked 10 at home, but deGrom edges out Greinke with 69 strikeouts to 65. Those 69 Ks are tied for sixth-best in the NL, and his average against is in the top 10. He’s also only let up two home runs at home, tied for the second-best among qualifying starters. deGrom is not simply have a strong sophomore season to his Rookie of the Year campaign, he is improving as he does it. And for the faithful in Flushing, he’s make quite a show of it. In the process he’s becoming the ace of his own team, which sports a plethora of pitching talent, not to mention one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.
His average fastball velocity has been climbing steadily throughout the season and now sits at 94.8 mph, ninth-best in the majors. In his first nine starts his heater averaged 94.3 mph. In his last 10 it has been 95.2 mph. A full mile-per-hour increase is not unheard of, but it is certainly not expected as the dog days of summer take their toll on pitchers, and even less likely from a guy who’s pitching a full season in the big leagues for the first time. It’s not like deGrom is getting rocked on the road or anything either. His away-ERA of 2.69 is still 13th best in the National League. But when he comes back to New York, he appears to get a little something extra going, and fans couldn’t be happier.
deGrom’s maturation has been especially appreciated because at times ace Matt Harvey hasn’t been so ace-like in his return from Tommy John surgery. As well, the Mets didn’t exactly know what they were going to get from some of their other veteran and rookie starters alike. Through it all though, deGrom has been the steady hand at the wheel that the team needed during dark moments earlier in the season. As Harvey has gone through the year, we have seen him recapture some of his brilliance. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz have also given us moments of exaltation. When performance and health begin to click for all of these guys, it’s exciting to think what this group might accomplish.
What shouldn’t get lost is that when the Mets could have collapsed, deGrom was there to carry the team home. The Mets have a much better home record than away. It’s not a coincidence when considering what deGrom is doing on the mound in Citi Field. For a former shortstop who converted late in life to pitching, and for someone who had to endure Tommy John surgery himself down in the minors, his growth has been staggering to say the least. So as with Sunday, Greinke had better watch out. Jacob deGrom is coming for you. He’s coming for all of you.
FWIW – In his last six road starts, deGrom has a 1.22 ERA.