Jacob deGrom performed like he usually does as he shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup in a 2-1 win for the New York Mets.
deGrom took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Justin Turner broke it up with a one-out single. L.A. was then able to get on the board via a solo home run from Mookie Betts, but that was all they could score against deGrom and the Mets’ pitching staff.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner finished his outing with seven innings pitched while giving up just the lone run on three hits, striking out nine and walking one.
While results like those have become quite common for the 34-year-old, he took a different gameplan into his start against the Dodgers, which manager Dave Roberts said the team will need to take note of if facing deGrom and the Mets in the postseason, via Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
“He went more 50-50 with his secondary versus the fastball tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s something that we need to keep in the back of our minds that, yeah, he can go to the secondary [pitches] if needed.”
deGrom threw a fastball 38 times, which accounted for 41% of his pitches, and used his slider 41 times (44%). While the slider usage was on par with his season mark, deGrom dropped his fastball rate by 7% from his normal average.
To replace the drop in fastballs, he threw a changeup nine times and curveball five times. Although that may not seem like much, deGrom had thrown his changeup just 18 times and his curveball only 12 times in his previous five starts combined.
This means he essentially doubled his usage of his changeup and curveball during his outing, which gave the Dodgers even more to think about while already dealing with fastballs that reach 102 mph and sliders that top out at 94 mph.
Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara also found success against the Dodgers less than a week ago by using his offspeed and breaking balls more often.
If starting pitchers have found a gameplan to rely on their secondary offerings more often against the Dodgers than they do when facing other teams, the offense will be faced with a bigger challenge preparing without any data on what opponents might throw.
Still, it isn’t cause for panic yet. The Dodgers lineup has more than enough talent to adjust to what pitchers are doing to them and if more pitchers begin to follow that trend, it will become something the hitters just come to expect rather than catching them off guard.
Betts gives high praise to deGrom
With Betts responsible for the lone Dodgers’ run, it continued his August hot streak and tied his career-high with his 32nd home run of the season.
But along with the homer, he also struck out twice and flied out, going 1-for-4. After the game, he offered high praise for deGrom by referring to him as arguably the best pitcher in MLB history.
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