Jacob deGrom put together a solid performance against the Boston Red Sox, but it was not enough for a Mets victory.
Here’s the thing: pitching wasn’t the problem for New York.
The Mets collected just two — yes, two — hits off Red Sox pitching in Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss at Citi Field. Nick Pivetta gave up a one-out single to Jeff McNeil in the second inning while Garrett Whitlock gave up a one-out single to Pete Alonso in the sixth.
Meanwhile, deGrom gave up just one earned run on three hits in six innings of work. The only run of the game came in the second inning thanks to two damaging doubles by Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez. He struck out nine and walked one otherwise.
For many, it’s difficult to call that a disappointing outing. But deGrom was not pleased with himself and shouldered some of the blame for the loss.
“I think I’m just disappointed by how good I felt mechanically last time out there and just wasn’t able to repeat that. It was a little bit frustrating seeing the action on my fastball with it sailing arm-side, me falling off to the first-base side,” deGrom told reporters, per SNY. “That was what frustrated me. Like I said, I just felt like I should have made pitches in that second (inning). I gave up a leadoff double and then left some balls in the middle of the plate, and they were hit hard. They were able to move him (Bogaerts) to third and even the Vazquez double, it was not a good pitch. So that’s what’s frustrating for me.”
What’s more, deGrom only has given up two earned runs this season: one in Wednesday’s game and one during his second start of the season against the Miami Marlins on April 10. In fact, he now has failed to claim a win after giving up no more than one run in at least six innings of work 33 times. That’s eight more games than any other pitcher since he entered the league in 2014, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Still, deGrom felt he could have done better and did not point fingers elsewhere.
“I try not to think too much about it,” he said, per SNY. “Like I said, I’m more disappointed that I wasn’t able to make pitches there in the second inning. I was trying to battle through, but just left some balls over the plate that got hit. So, that comes down to me controlling what I can control and I didn’t do a good job of that in the second inning.”
This level of accountability certainly is admirable, but deGrom should not make excuses for his team’s shortcomings either. After all, the Mets have some serious talent on their 2021 roster. They just have to find a way to make things work.
