The Boston Red Sox have a tall task in taking on Jacob deGrom the pitcher and Jacob deGrom the batter.
Boston wraps up its quick two-game series with the New York Mets on Wednesday night at Citi Field, and not only need to get hits off the two-time Cy Young Award winner, but also need to keep him off the basepaths.
deGrom is 6-for-11 --good for a .545 batting average-- this season with a double and two RBIs, while holding an eye-popping 0.31 ERA.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora knows his team has its work cut out for it.
"(deGrom) pounds the strike zone with outstanding stuff, great tempo, great athlete on the mound," Cora told reporters during his pregame press conference. "For me, right now, he's the best of the best. The way he goes about it, the swing and misses. He can expand with the slider down and away to righties and he can expand up with his fastball. He's a good one."
Cora also is hopeful his pitching staff will limit the number of times the Mets go around their starting nine.
"As a hitter, hopefully he doesn't get too many at-bats today," he said. "That means we're in good shape."
First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET.
