On Sunday, Jacob deGrom was announced as the lone New York Met player going to the All-Star Game in Washington D.C.
It has been a historic first half of 2018 for New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom. While he hasn’t had the wins to show for it (five), his dominance has been rewarded with a trip to the 2018 All-Star Game in Washington D.C. on July 17 (7:30 p.m ET, FOX).
For deGrom, it will be his second trip to the Midsummer Classic. His first appearance came in 2015 in Cincinnati. In that game, he threw a 1-2-3 sixth inning, striking out the side (all swinging) on 10 pitches (nine strikes).
With one start to go until the All-Star Break, deGrom has put together a Cy Young caliber first half despite the 5-4 record. In 18 starts, the 30-year-old right-hander has a 1.79 ERA and has 142 strikeouts to 29 walks in 115.1 innings. He leads the National League in ERA and is second in strikeouts behind Max Scherzer (177).
This season, deGrom has thrown seven innings or more in ten starts and has at least seven strikeouts in 13 outings. Also, he has given up more than three runs in an outing only once (four runs allowed against the Miami Marlins on April 10). Despite that dominance, New York is only 7-11 in the games that he has pitched in this season.
While deGrom has a good case to start the game and be the first New York Mets pitcher to start in an All-Star Game since Matt Harvey (2013), you have to think the odds are in Scherzer’s favor to start his second straight Midsummer Classic (third overall), since the game is in the Washington Nationals ballpark.
As of right now, this will be the fourth time since 2013 that the Mets will only have one player representing them at the All-Star Game. Keep in mind that it is a rule that each team has to have one player selected, but deGrom was going to be chosen to the team regardless of New York’s record.
In a first half that has been filled with numerous disappointments for the Mets, watching deGrom get to pitch against some of the best hitters in the American League will at least bring the fans a little bit of positivity for one night.
Once the All-Star Game and trade deadline pass, then the Cy Young candidacy for deGrom will start to take center stage in Queens.
