“He’s the best pitcher I’ve ever seen. Bar none.”
Neal Heaton spent 12 years in Major League Baseball (including his last one, 1993, with the Yankees) and has worked with several future major leaguers as a pitching consultant and coach on Long Island – but that quote is about the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, whom he told Boomer & Gio Wednesday morning he believes is tops on the list of every hurler he’s ever seen.
“I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of guys over the year, I’ve seen Nolan Ryan, and Bert Blyleven and those guys back in the day, but never in my life have I seen a guy like that,” Heaton said. “He’s ridiculous. He throws a changeup at 92 MPH…you have to guess when you’re up there, hope a fastball is coming and swing out of your ass.”
Heaton has become a teacher since his retirement after the 1993 season – you may have heard that he was Gio’s Little League and High School coach – and he’s worked with guys like Steven Matz, Marcus Stroman, and Anthony Kay…but he can’t fathom how deGrom just gets better as he ages, like the finest wine in an orange and blue uniform.
“He’s getting better and better as he gets older. I don’t understand it,” Heaton said. “Usually, guys see their velocity go down as they get older, but he’s getting better and better. I want to sit down with him and find out what his routine in the offseason is like, because a lot of kids can learn from him.”
Boomer & Gio of course had to ask about current Met Stroman and former Met Matz, who pitched 6 2/3 strong innings for the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night and is blossoming with Toronto.
“His career is going to be very good. He started off a little slow, but it’s a transition to come up to the Majors, especially playing for the Mets in New York – it’s a lot of pressure,” Heaton said of Matz. “As soon as he got traded, he relaxed a bit and got his stuff straightened out. His breaking ball is better, and he’s throwing his changeup behind in the count.”
And if Matz is improving and deGrom is the best pitcher he’s seen, Heaton says Stroman might be one of the best pure athletes he’s ever coached.
“He’s just a tremendous athlete, and what makes him so good is his tenacity on the mound – even in workouts, he pitched like he was in a big game,” Heaton said.
That’s because, he notes, Stroman has always had to be a bulldog to overcome his biggest slight in the eyes of the so-called experts.
“Years ago, I was trying to convince scouts to draft him in the first three rounds, but they didn’t like him because of his height,” Heaton said. “I played with Tom Gordon, who had the same frame and body type and stuff, and he played 25 years in the big leagues. A lot of scouts still didn’t like Stroman, but he is where he is now.”
Check out Heaton’s entire segment with Boomer & Gio below!
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch