You likely couldn't have been able to tell based on his performance, but Jacob deGrom said he felt nerves on the mound in Tuesday night's spring training debut.
"I was nervous, to be honest with you," DeGrom said. "First time facing another team. You face your guys, it's more relaxed and more fun, but you get out there and guys are in another uniform, I was a little nervous."
DeGrom looked anything but nervous in what was his first time in game action since last July. He tossed two scoreless innings, touching 99 mph on the black in a dominant first inning in which he struck out the side, then came back out to fan two more in the second. Of the 30 pitches he threw, 24 were for strikes, allowing just one hit along the way.
"The main thing I worked on this offseason and felt like it really carried over pretty well today, was being really smooth down the mound," DeGrom said. "That was the main concern today."
Mechanics and delivery will be paramount for deGrom in 2022, as minor and nagging injuries continued to pop up last year, derailing his season and eventually ending it in July after he suffered an elbow injury that took much longer to be relieved from inflammation than initially expected. But deGrom says he has been letting loose since facing his teammates in live batting practice this spring, and Tuesday was no different.
"Everything felt good," deGrom said. "Felt like I was sync and was able to locate the ball pretty well, so I was happy with how the day went."
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