The Mets' postseason hopes may be slipping away, but ace Jacob deGrom remains a must-match.
The reigning two-time Cy Young award winner recently achieved new levels of deGrominance -- and the internet is all abuzz about it.
deGrom induced a whopping 35 swings and misses in his Sunday start against the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies, tying the most ever recorded in a start since MLB began tracking it back in 2008.
The nearly three-dozen whiffs were quickly condensed into video clips that gained traction on social media, first on Twitter over the holiday weekend, and more recently on the Reddit Sports board, where it sat among the most popular posts so far this week.
Only two other pitchers have induced that many hacks in the past 13 seasons, according to Jason Catania of MLB.com. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw did it in 2015, and Danny Duffy of the Royals did it the following year. Better still, deGrom racked up 31 swings-and-misses in his previous start.
The Mets provided their ace with plenty of run support in the 14-1 romp over the Phillies, a scenario that has been all too scarce for the 32-year-old superstar throughout his recent run of excellence.
deGrom did his part as usual, fanning 12 in seven innings and allowing just one earned run. The outing brought the right-hander's ERA down to a microscopic 1.69 through his first 48 innings in 2020, good for second-best in the National League and third in MLB entering play on Wednesday.
Only the Cubs' Yu Darvish had a better earned run average than deGrom so far, and would likely be deGrom's top competition for the Cy Young in his bid to take home the award for the third consecutive year if the season ended today. Both pitchers could make around four more starts with three weeks remaining in the regular season. Another contender, Braves ace Max Fried, was recently placed on the injured list, though he is expected back in about a week.
Meanwhile the Amazin's were 5 games under .500 on Wednesday, leaving them in fourth place in the NL East and 3 games back for the second wild card. The Mets would have to overtake multiple teams in either scenario in order to reach the playoffs.
