Jacob deGrom looked like his vintage self on Saturday, turning in two scoreless innings against the Astros, but he apparently didn't have the same kind of success against teammate Michael Conforto.
Just days prior to deGrom's first spring training outing, he threw live batting practice to Conforto, who hadn't had much success against the former Cy Young Award winner. But on this day, Conforto took deGrom deep.
Twice.
"I don't even know if I've gotten a hit off of him before," Conforto, who has faced deGrom in live batting practice for the past six years, said. "That's why he wanted me in there, to boost his confidence a bit, but that day I got him."
Conforto admits he may not have gotten deGrom's best that day, but the friendly trash talking began almost immediately between the two before the Mets outfielder stepped in against their ace.
"Jake was working on some stuff and he wanted me to jump in live BP," Conforto said. "He asked me if I was scared to jump in, and I said 'No, I'm not scared.' That kind of started it off for us. He struck me out the first at-bat and I think I rolled over in my second at-bat. He left a little two-seamer out over the plate and I got him, and I started jogging off to the field and back to the clubhouse, basically saying 'I'm done, I'll take one for free off of deGrom,' so I took all my stuff off and sat down."
Conforto was happy to finally take deGrom deep, but deGrom wasn't letting him get off that easily.
"He was getting close to his pitch count and he called me out there again," Conforto said. "He said 'You're gonna face me one more time.' So I jumped out there and he threw me four changeups in a row, then a fastball, and there was some discrepancy over whether I swung or not. He wouldn't let me walk. I thought I had walked, maybe I got the pitch count wrong, I don't know."
Whether Conforto offered at the pitch or not, deGrom likely wishes he let his teammate have the free pass.
"That next pitch I ended up getting a slider," Conforto said on the pitch he drove for his second home run off of deGrom. "He was just kind of working on some stuff, he was messing around out there. I didn't get his 98-99mph stuff."
It was a nice birthday present for Conforto, who turned 28 on the day of the simulated game, but his celebration didn't put deGrom in a festive mood.
"I might have been heated, I don't know if Conforto was," deGrom laughed. "He had a good day. It was funny, I saw he wasn't on the list. I said 'Do you want your birthday off, you're not gonna come out there and try to face me?' He gave me a little humble pie there."
Looking back, deGrom may have let Conforto stay in the clubhouse after that first long ball.
"He wasn't gonna hit again and I said 'get back in there one more time,'" deGrom said. "I guess I got what I asked for."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
