The Mets were only minutes removed from witnessing Jacob deGrom's dominant complete game shutout on Friday night, which included a new career-high 15 strikeouts, but his teammates still knew the magnitude of what they just witnessed.
It was hard not to, given how overpowering deGrom was.
"You're going to be replaying that game at the end of 2021 in one of those "Greatest games of 2021,'" Brandon Nimmo said. "We're gonna see you, when we're watching during a rain delay or something, we're going to see you replaying that game."
Nimmo had a front row seat for deGrom's two-hit masterpiece, watching from center field as the Mets ace put together his third straight start with at least 14 strikeouts, becoming the first player in history to record 50 strikeouts in his first four starts of a season.
"Jake is unbelievable," Nimmo said. "He truly is. He has to be from a different planet. He does things that seem out of this world."
deGrom looked even more otherworldly when considering what he did at the plate on Friday night, punching an RBI single to left to put the Mets on top, and in the bottom of the eighth, after he received a standing ovation when he stepped into the on deck circle, he picked up another single, his sixth of the season.
deGrom finally received some run support thanks in large part to Nimmo, but on this night, he really didn't need it. He did it all himself.
"He single-handedly won and changed the game," Nimmo said. "When you see someone do that in baseball, that is really, really hard to do. It is such a team game. It's hard to have one person beat the other team. It's the most impressive performance I've ever seen. I'm still blown away, that I got to be a part of it. He was in such control and so dominant."
deGrom's season batting average now sits at .552, with an OPS of 1.182. Of course, it's a miniscule sample size, but it's currently the highest mark in the Mets starting lineup, and he pairs it with shutdown innings on the mound every five days.
"I get paid to hit the ball, he gets paid to throw the ball, and he hits it better than all of us," Nimmo laughed. "There are only a handful of people who are that good. He definitely is in a league of his own. There's no question he's competing with himself. He wants to outdo his best performance, and he was able to do that tonight."
As deGrom continues to put together one of the best starts to a season a pitcher has ever had, Nimmo and the rest of the Mets say there's still no getting used to it. deGrom has just been too good not to be in awe of his ability, even if they're seeing it once a week.
"Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by it, but I am," Nimmo said. "I'm still in awe of him. I still laugh when I'm on deck and this guy makes it look so easy, and then I gotta get up there and this is what I get paid to do. So I definitely still surprised by him but he's made it more of a habit every game, so maybe ask me that a few more starts down the road."
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