For the umpteenth outing in a row, Jacob deGrom pitched a gem Wednesday, throwing seven innings and allowing only one run while striking out seven and walking no one. And for umpteenth outing in a row, the righty’s efforts were wasted, as the Mets failed to score even a single run on the way to a 2-0 loss to the Braves.
The loss continued a run of excellence for deGrom and futility for the Mets offense that truly defies belief. deGrom leads the National League with a 1.55 ERA, yet he has only four wins on the season. Why? Because over his past 10 starts, as he has pitched like the second coming of Bob Gibson, the team around him has played like the second coming of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.
Needless to say, the situation lends itself to ridiculous fun facts.
deGrom's last ten starts:
62.1 IP
0.87 ERA
.198/.258/.257 against
83/17 K/BBThe Mets are 2-8 in those 10 games.
— Mike Axisa (@mikeaxisa) June 13, 2018
Assuming the Mets don't come back in the 9th, Jacob deGrom will be the first pitcher since Randy Johnson of the 1999 D-backs to make 5 straight starts of 7+ IP and ≤ 2 ER, and see his team lose each one.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) June 13, 2018
The Mets .357 win pct in Jacob deGrom's starts is the 12th-lowest team win pct for any qualified pitcher.
That's of 89 qualified pitchers.
And he has a 1.55 ERA.
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 13, 2018
Jacob deGrom has a 1.55 ERA this season. The Mets are 5-9 in his starts.
Lucas Giolito has an MLB-worst 7.09 ERA. The White Sox are 5-8 in his starts.
— Paul Casella (@paul_casella) June 13, 2018
#Mets this season in Jacob deGrom starts:
deGrom: 1.55 ERA, 1.008 WHIP in 87.1 IP
bullpen: 8.26 ERA, 1.934 WHIP in 40.1 IP— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) June 13, 2018
And the craziest one of all…
Today was the 7th time this season Jacob deGrom has allowed 1 or fewer runs and his team lost.
That's tied for the most such starts by a pitcher in an entire season since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893 (via @EliasSports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 13, 2018
So basically, the Mets are letting down deGrom in ways not seen since the Grover Cleveland administration, turning one of the very best pitchers in baseball into a dude who wins at the rate of a Triple-A call-up.
But the Mets have not saved their suckiness for deGrom starts exclusively. The team’s offense has been awful no matter who is on the mound, as demonstrated by this nearly unfathomable stat:
The Mets made history! pic.twitter.com/x1AweLBV6v
— Good Fundies is short for Good Fundamentals (@goodfundies) June 13, 2018
Yep, the Mets are on a streak of offensive ineptitude no one walking this earth has ever seen.
Looking up and down the Mets’ lineup, it’s hard to figure how the team could possibly be this incapable of scoring runs. Between Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto, Todd Frazier, Asdrubal Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo, there are good hitters on this team — they just haven’t performed. And yes, eventually this group will likely turn things around to some extent, but by that point the 28-36 Mets might be out of the race for good and Jacob deGrom might have some gray hairs.