Jake & Mad Max: Start of something big for '22 Mets
Max Scherzer #21 of the New York Mets throws a pitch during the seventh inning of the Spring Training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Clover Park on March 27, 2022 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Eric Espada
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla
Never before has a game that doesn’t count mattered quite as much as Sunday, when Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, with a total of five Cy Young Awards between them, split a Grapefruit League contest against the Cardinals at Clover Park.
Steve Cohen, wearing his Mets cap, watched from the upper-level owner’s box. A sellout crowd of 7,205 filled the stands below, along with the grassy berm beyond the centerfield wall.
DeGrom threw three innings, struck out five, touched 99 mph a few times and made 52 pitches. Scherzer went six (!) and sealed the 7-3 victory by whiffing Kramer Robertson on pitch No. 90, an 84-mph slider, for his seventh strikeout of the afternoon.
Yes, this was spring training. A notch above practice. But meaningless? Not a chance.
“That was super-cool,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “You’re talking about two of the best to ever do it, and to have them both throw on the same day, and you’ve got a front-row seat like that, that’s something I’ll remember forever. Even though the game literally meant nothing, right? But to me, and all the people in the stands and watching on TV, that was a pretty cool experience. And it was a good day for the Mets, for sure.”
In the big picture, it was a crucially important game for the Mets, if only to have deGrom and Scherzer get their work in according to plan and then exit without any problems.
And that’s what happened. Judging by their own postgame analysis, the Mets can exhale. Both aces made it through without incident, other than Scherzer looking agitated in the dugout after the eighth inning. Hefner later explained that he had to open a water bottle for the over-amped Scherzer, who proceeded to drink it with his left hand.
As for what exactly had him so hyped up, Scherzer shrugged off the question. “That’s normal,” he said.
The rest of Sunday’s program was anything but. You won’t see the Mets deploy another $130 million relief pitcher unless they come upon some extraordinary situation in the October tournament, but they’ll be riding deGrom and Scherzer to get to that point.
There’s no overstating the importance of those two staying functional over the next six-plus months, so Sunday was helpful to ease the collective anxiety of Metsville, a place that has endured its share of injury-related heartbreak. But if they dare to dream ahead and this duo pitches to their Cooperstown abilities, the numbers turn overwhelmingly in the Mets’ favor.
“If you’re getting 30 starts from each of them, we’re talking about — hopefully — 50 wins? Realistically, if we go 50-10 in their games, that’s a reasonable expectation,” Hefner said. “And you’re talking about wanting to get to 90 wins, so that means the other three guys, we’ve got to find a way to win 40 games. It makes sense why there’s this expectation around us to do some really good things because those two guys are going to lead us.”
In an ideal world, that’s the kind of blueprint you can draw up with deGrom and Scherzer fronting the rotation. Of course, life doesn’t tend to go that way in Flushing, and especially last season for deGrom, who stayed healthy for only 15 starts and didn’t pitch after July 7. Before that, during his consecutive Cy Young seasons, he was 21-17 in 64 starts.
But there are reasons to predict that deGrom is in for a very different season this time around. Not that he’s ever needed additional motivation, but he’s entering an opt-out year, so he’ll be shooting for the next record contract. Also, he definitely appears physically stronger this spring — more flexible muscle mass than Thor-caliber bulk — and believes the new universal DH is going to work to his advantage.
“I enjoy hitting, but it seemed to start some of these injuries,” deGrom said. “So anything that can help keep me on the field, I guess, is a plus.”
As deGrom’s pitch count rose in the third inning, manager Buck Showalter briefly considered the possibility of calling in Scherzer from the bullpen, but he was relieved that it never came to that.
Later, Scherzer joked about his unique relief outing. But that trademark intensity still seemed to be simmering at his locker about a half-hour after his final pitch.
“I think we all got a kick out of it,” Scherzer said. “Just another wrinkle to everything. You just got to keep a smile on your face, go out there and take the ball. I wanted to finish the game and I was able to.”
If Scherzer ever smiled during Sunday’s game, I must have missed it. He showed a bunch of other emotions, however, and that will be part of the brilliance he’ll display along with deGrom.
“Max is a little more outgoing than Jake is,” Hefner said. “In terms of their intent and competitiveness, it manifests itself differently, but they’re very, very similar in how they approach the game. What you see is a little bit different, but it’s eerily similar.”
If the Mets are lucky, they’ll get that a lot this year. Just on different days from now on.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
