We have seen plenty of deGrom vs Scherzer matchups in our lifetime – today is the first time we see a deGrom and Scherzer pitch on the same day, for the same team! Mets fans have been anticipating this game since it was announced earlier in the week that deGrom and Scherzer’s next spring outing would fall on the same day.
The Mets head into deGrom/Scherzer day coming off of a win against the Nationals. Spring Training results generally don’t matter, but sometimes when the results start looking extreme, they can tell a story. We knew things was going to be rough for Washington this year and they already are 1-7 over their first 8 games this year.
Anyway, the Mets offense had 9 hits on the day including two hit performances by Brandon Nimmo (raising his spring OPS to .368) and Jeff McNeil (Spring OPS .885). Eduardo Escobar continued his strong spring hitting his first homer, and some how lowered his batting average to an absurd .556. Dominic Smith hit a double and maintained his 1.286 OPS. All around good day with the bats.
Taijuan Walker made his spring debut and he looked good, holding the Nationals to one hit over 2.0 innings. Peterson came in behind him and allowed 2 runs from 2 hits over 3.2 innings (but still struck out 5). The rest of the bullpen (Nogosek, Shreve, Reid-Foley) combined for 3.1 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 3.
What We are Watching For Today:
The pitching. The only thing that matters today is the pitching.
Jacob deGrom pitched 2.0 innings in his first spring training game of the year and allowed 1 hit while striking out 5 batters. It was the first time we saw deGrom since his season ending surgery last year. He looked like himself, with his easy flowing fastball and he even mixed in a rare-for-him curveball as a first pitch to a batter. He looks like he’s having fun out there.
Max Scherzer had a dominating first spring training game as a New York Met. He allowed one run off three hits over 5.0 innings while striking out 5 batters. He needed only 72 pitches to get through the five innings. I know spring is skewed more than normal this year due to the lockout and the late start, but it’s remarkable when a pitcher goes 5.0 innings in the middle of March, it’s remarkable when their first start of the spring is 5.0 innings. Only taking 72 pitches to get through 5.0 innings is impressive. Great first impressions made by Scherzer.
At the time of writing this (before 8 AM), it has not been announced yet if another major Mets debut will happen today. At the end of yesterday’s game, Buck Showalter mentioned that Starling Marte would either play today, making his Mets debut, or he will take live batting practice. Obviously we have enough to be excited about today with deGrom and Scherzer and a Marte debut on top of it all will make this a beautiful Sunday Fun Day.
Let’s Go Mets!
