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It's been 389 days since Jacob DeGrom started a major league baseball game. After what seems like an eternity, DeGrom will make his season debut this Tuesday against the Nationals. Tuesday will mark 392 days since he last pitched in a major league game.
DeGrom has been rehabbing for the past month with the St Lucie Mets, Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Syracuse Mets. He's looked solid in those outings, except the final start in Syracuse. I am beyond excited to see Jake on Tuesday pitch against a Nationals team who have been the center of trade rumors with Josh Bell and Juan Soto. Tuesday is also the MLB trade deadline which is gearing up to be quite a crazy day. With rumors swirling, I'm expecting to see some blockbuster deals take place including Juan Soto. As a Mets fan, Tuesday is an all time baseball day. Hopefully the Mets make some moves to get a relief pitcher and one more bat and then we can celebrate all the great moves by Eppler when DeGrom takes the mound!
Here's what DeGrom had to say about his start on Tuesday (via @AnthonyDicomo on Twitter).
I'm so excited to see DeGrom back out there. I'm also even more excited that Max is pitching Monday and DeGrom is pitching Tuesday. When the Mets signed Max in the winter, this is what we all envisioned. The 1-2 punch of Max and DeGrom is lethal and I think I can speak for a lot of Mets fans when I say we have been waiting for this for a LONG time. The rotation is really starting to take shape as well. DeGrom, Max, Bassitt, Cookie and Walker. That 5 man rotation is really solid. I'm hoping Walker doesn't crumble in the 2nd half of the season like he did last season, but just gotta take it game by game. Health will be the number 1 priority for this team going forward. DeGrom intends to opt out of his contract after this season, and if he gets injured again for a long period of time before then, it will be almost time to poise the question if paying him a HUGE contract is worth it. Don't get me wrong, I think DeGrom is one of the greatest pitchers ever, but I'd be lying if I said the health concerns didn't concern me. However, right now I'm just gonna enjoy the ride and enjoy DeGrom's season debut on Tuesday.
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