Revisit deGrom’s Dominance Against the Phillies for his Birthday

Phillies rival and future Hall of Famer Jacob deGrom turns 33 today. At this point in his career, he’s pretty much the undisputed best pitcher in the game, despite the fact that he rarely gets any run support from the Mets lineup.

As the Phillies’ division rivals, the offense and fans have had to endure quite a few deGrom dominations over the last eight years. He has 51 career double-digit strikeout games; four of them have come against the Phillies. This season overall, he has the lowest ERA of any starter in MLB history through their first nine starts of the season.

Yeah, he’s that good.

So, in honor of deGOAT’s birthday, let’s take a trip down memory lane with some facts and figures…

deGrom’s Career against the Phillies

In 18 career games (all starts) against the Phillies, deGrom is 8-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 108 total innings. He’s struck out 121 Phillies batters over the years, and only given up seven home runs. He’s held Phillies lineups to a .210/.258/.297 slash line.

Now, for most pitchers, this would be a dream scenario. But for deGrom, who currently has a .54 ERA this season, the numbers against the Phillies actually make him look somewhat hittable!

deGrom’s first start against the Phillies

deGrom made his MLB debut against the Mets’ crosstown rival Yankees on May 15, 2014. His first time facing their division rival Phillies came two weeks later, on May 31. For the fourth straight game, deGrom went more than six innings.

His final line: 6 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 11 K. It was his first career double-digit strikeout game.

Unfortunately, this was a classic case of leaving the starter in the game just a smidge too long; deGrom had pitched six scoreless innings before giving up a 3-run homer to Ryan Howard. Luckily for him, the lineup came through with run support, and the Mets won it in 14 innings.

deGrom gets his first win against the Phillies

deGrom is one of the best pitchers of the millennium, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his career win-loss record of 76-53. In his defense, it’s an outdated metric, and he doesn’t get run support often; his run support average has been below 3.82 in four seasons in his career, and under 4.42 in all but two seasons.

Still, as Kevin Malone famously said on The Office, “It’s just nice to win one,” and on August 29, 2014, deGrom did just that. He went seven innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits, walking two, and striking out five. The pitcher who’d started his career 0-4 was now 7-6 on the season.

deGrom can hit, too.

In 11 games so far this season, deGrom is 11-for-26, slashing .423/.423/.462 with a .885 OPS. In 2019, he hit two home runs!

Not every pitcher can hit or wants to hit, and the Universal DH conversation is one for another day, but if deGrom wants to keep hitting, I’m all for it.

The Phillies versus deGrom in 2021

deGrom’s season has been hampered by injuries and the aforementioned lack of run support, but it hasn’t stopped him from dominating the Phillies. On Opening Night, he threw six scoreless innings against the Phillies, striking out seven and walking two. He also threw the fastest pitch of the season to that point, a 102 mph pitch to Didi Gregorius. Oh, and he had a 2-hit game with an RBI because there is no universal DH this season.

While the Phillies are enjoying former Met Zack Wheeler this season, deGrom’s legend continues to grow by the game. He’s on track to be the NL ERA leader for the second time and win both NL MVP and his third Cy Young Award in four years. By his own admission, he’s aging backward like Benjamin Button or Tom Brady.

The Mets might not always win for him, but game recognizes game. Happy birthday, deGrom!