Coming off of back-to-back Cy Young Award-winning seasons, Jacob deGrom enters the 2020 season with sky-high external expectations.
The right-hander took the ball for the Mets’ sim game on Thursday, and according to manager Luis Rojas, looked to be in midseason form.
After allowing a leadoff double to Jed Lowrie, deGrom settled in and pitched three scoreless innings without allowing another hit.
“He looked really good,” Rojas said on Friday. “Easy again, repeated his delivery with all of his pitches, velo was there, changeup, slider. He elevated the ball when he needed to. I think that the hitters are starting to feel that timing right now. The first inning, Jed leading off, I thought he found some good swings against his pitches, but he was Jake.
“It was good to see just how easy he can throw the ball. How easy he can mix his pitches and roll with that. So, I think he was great.”
If all goes to plan, deGrom will take the mound for the Opening Day start at Citi Field against the Atlanta Braves on July 24.
"My goal is to get up to around 85 pitches in my last (start before Opening Day) and kind of go as normal,” deGrom said earlier this week. “Talked it over with (pitching coach Jeremy Hefner), with how much throwing I did while I was at home, I feel like I'm ready to ramp up pretty quick."
Over his past two seasons, the 32-year-old has cemented himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, posting a 2.05 ERA with a 2.32 FIP and 0.941 WHIP while striking out 524 hitters in 421.0 innings.
DeGrom has also said that winning a third-straight Cy Young under the current circumstances would feel a bit different, but he still has his eyes on taking home the award and helping the Mets win a championship.
"I would say there definitely has to be some difference there" deGrom said. "Twelve starts versus 32. I think that's less than half, so there's a lot that can happen in any given start. You normally play 162 games and 200 innings. I don't think it would feel the same, but it's definitely still a goal."