Jacob deGrom deserves better than the Mets

Jacob deGrom is a generational talent and his abilities are being wasted with the Mets.

Jacob deGrom is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Unfortunately, the New York Mets have not been good enough for him to showcase his talents annually in October.

deGrom made his first start of the season Monday and held the Philadelphia Phillies scoreless in six innings of work. He left the game with seven strikeouts in what is a modest day for him. The Mets were up 2-0 when the game turned to the bullpen.

The Mets relievers then allowed a big five-spot for the Phillies in the bottom of the eighth en route to a 5-3 loss. deGrom pitched a gem, got a no-decision, and Mets fans saw a familiar story play out once again.

Mets not maximizing deGrom’s dominance

deGrom gives the Mets a chance to win every time he takes the mound. That has always been the case given his career 2.60 ERA. It is not just that the Mets can’t give their ace a win for his own record. They are having trouble winning in general even when he holds opponents to under three runs on average per game.

This is why fans were so excited when Steve Cohen bought the team. He made it clear he would spend to add talent and the addition of Francisco Lindor was a nice change after fans were told to get excited about the likes of Yoenis Cespedes and Jed Lowrie in the recent past.

So will anything change with Lindor in town? We do know that deGrom is still going to play at a high level and Monday’s first game of the season won’t define the year. But the alarming trend of not giving deGrom run support remains alive. That, and the fact the bullpen totally blew it in the eighth inning.

The club is not going to win every single time deGrom is on the mound. But they should at least be over the .500 mark during this current run of dominance. Losing games where he throws gems could mean the team fails to reach October yet again in 2021.