Hello all! I’m Corné Hogeveen. A dutch Mets fan! I will do some post about Mets prospects, trade rumors, FA Rumors, my life as a dutch Mets fan and report/predictions about current Mets.
Here is my first post. It’s a Report/Prediction about our ace Jacob deGrom.
DeGrom was born on the 19th of June in DeLand, Florida. He attended Calvary Christian in Ormond Beach, Florida. He played Baseball and Basketball for that school. DeGrom was not selected in the draft out of high school so he went on to Stenson University. During his freshman and sophomore season, deGrom played exclusively shortstop. He was a good fielder with a good arm to play short but he did not hit much.
In college he had a .263 career batting average. He made his first appearance as a pitcher in May of 2009 and has never looked back. In the beginning they used deGrom as a reliever but, they quickly saw that deGrom was the best pitcher from Stenson so they put him in the rotation. MLB scouts started to notice deGrom when he pitched against Chris Sale (now a White Sox starting pitcher) of Florida Gulf Coast University. In that game he out-dueled Sale 1-0 and deGrom hit a home run against Sale.
The Mets selected deGrom in the ninth round of the 2010 draft as the 272nd overall pick. He started his Mets career with the Kingsport Mets in the Rookie League. He made six starts and went 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA in 26 innings. After those six starts, deGrom was diagnosed with a partial tear (UCL) in his pitching elbow. He tried to rehabilitate his arm for four months but eventually had Tommy John Surgery in October of 2010.
DeGrom did not pitch in 2011, but while he was rehabilitating, he worked on his change-up with the one and only Johan Santana. DeGrom started his 2012 season with the Single-A Savannah Gnats. In 15 starts he went 6-3 with a 2.51 ERA. In 89.2 innings deGrom allowed just 77 hits and 14 walks. He earned a promotion to the Single-A St Lucie Mets, where he was even better in 2012 going 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 4 starts. His WHIP was incredible 0.923 with the St Lucie Mets in that season.
In 2013, deGrom started his year with the St Lucie Mets. He made only two starts before he got promoted to Double-A Binghamton. He struggled a bit in Double-A going 2-5 with a 4.80 ERA in 10 starts. In 66 innings, deGrom allowed 69 hits and his walks per nine innings were up to 3…his highest in any level. He ended the year with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51’s because the Mets promoted Zack Wheeler to the big leagues. He made 14 starts and went 4-2 with a 4.52 ERA. He went 75.2 innings and allowed 87 hits. His walks were 2.9 per 9 innings and in that full year deGrom had his highest WHIP 1.449 per inning.
In 2014 he started the year with Triple-A Las Vegas and he did great in seven starts, going 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in that league. He pitched 38.1 innings before he was promoted to the big league club. First he was supposed to pitch out of the bullpen but an injury to Dillon Gee required the Mets to insert him in the rotation. He made his MLB debut on May the 15 against the Yankees and pitched a great game. He went seven innings, allowing just a run and striking out six. Unfortunately the Mets were shut out and deGrom got the loss.
DeGrom had to wait long for his first MLB win despite pitching decent. His first win was on July 8 when deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11. On Sept. 15, deGrom made a strong case to become NL Rookie of the Year, striking out the first eight Marlins to start the game. He was shut down near the end of the season. He went 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 21 starts with the Mets. He pitched in 140.1 innings allowing just 117 hits and striking out 144. His WHIP was 1.140, which was very solid.
DeGrom was named NL Rookie of the year after his 2014 season. He had 26 of the 30 first place votes. DeGrom was the number two starter in the beginning of the 2015 season. DeGrom pitched the home opener and pitched a gem against the Phillies, going 6.1 scoreless innings for the win. DeGrom began the season with a 8-6 record and a 2.30 ERA. He was selected to the All-Star team in 2015. He made a memorable appearance striking out the side in his one inning on 10 pitches.
DeGrom pitched to a 14-8 record with a 2.54 ERA and a great 0.99 WHIP. He was the game one starter of the NLDS against the Dodgers. He beat Clayton Kershaw, going seven scoreless innings in a Mets 3-1 win. He also pitched game five against the Dodgers going six innings allowing two runs. In both those games deGrom got the win.
DeGrom started game 3 of the NLCS against the Cubs. He pitched seven innings of two-run ball to help give the Mets a 3-0 advantage on the Cubs in the series. deGrom started game two against the Royals and he went 5 innings allowing 4 runs for the loss.
Projection for 2016:
I think deGrom showed he is able to adjust at the big league level. He struggled a bit in the end of April/ begin of May but went on to have another stellar season for the Mets. To me he is the ace of the staff. I think there is no reason to believe that deGrom will decline at this point. He is 27 years old so he is in his prime of his career.
Here is my prediction in some stats for the 2016 season from Jacob deGrom:
15-7
2.46 ERA
1.01 WHIP
205 innings pitched.
What do you guys think about this prediction? Let me know! And if you have an idea which player you want a report about let me know!
