WASHINGTON -- Jacob deGrom is so good that even his own manager is in awe of him sometimes.
“I don't [get tired of watching him],” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I'm a fan. I love watching him and what he can do with not just the stuff, but the command and his pitchability. It's just a rare deal, and that's why his numbers are what they are for his career.”
Bochy was treated to vintage deGrom on Saturday afternoon, when he tossed seven shutout innings while carrying the Rangers to a 5-0 win to even the series at Nationals Park.
deGrom frequented Nationals Park plenty during his time with the Mets.
As a resident of the NL East from 2014-22, deGrom has faced the Nats 22 times, the third-most of any club in his career. He entered the day owning a 2.41 ERA against Washington and a 2.74 ERA in 12 career starts at Nationals Park, the lowest ERA by any active pitcher in the venue (minimum of 10 games started).
It only got better on Saturday.
deGrom used just 81 pitches over his seven frames. He collected eight strikeouts with no walks. He dominated with a pitch mix that was 91 percent four-seamer and slider, while collecting 11 whiffs on the slider.
“I think we had a good plan against him, to stay on the fastball,” said Nats outfielder Robert Hassell III. “But you saw early, he was trying to get guys off of the fastball with that slider. And the slider was good, it was 90 miles an hour. I think you saw what a healthy DeGrom can do, for sure. I think we were all prepared, but he got us today and he was hitting his spots. That's what he does."
The Texas ace has now allowed two runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts, posting a 1.81 ERA over that span.
deGrom, despite the numbers looking like they do this season, has not really felt comfortable yet this season in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery.
Until now, that is.
“I noticed something in my last start with my mechanics,” deGrom said. “I felt like I was pretty good in the last inning [last start], and just tried to work on that this week. Today, I felt a little bit smoother than I have felt all year. It was more consistent. It’s a feel thing. It's hard to explain. But I just felt more comfortable.”
The Rangers are now 22-4 when scoring at least four runs as the pitching staff continues to carry the club. Texas starters have the best ERA in the American League (2.94), trailing only the Mets (2.86).
But on Saturday, second baseman Marcus Semien did the majority of the heavy lifting for the offense, collecting three RBIs in his new spot in the lineup at cleanup. Friday was his first career start in the cleanup spot, and he has now started in all nine positions in the batting order during his 13-year MLB career: first (850), second (281), third (37), fourth (2), fifth (31), sixth (34), seventh (95), eighth (105) and ninth (111).
It goes without saying that you need to score runs to win baseball games. But it’s hard to overstate what a healthy deGrom means to the Rangers, especially with the offense as inconsistent as it’s been this year.
“We talked about this guy, he's one of the best ever in this game,” Bochy said. “It's hard to quantify how much he means to the club. He's just so consistent, and he sends such a sense of confidence with his club when he’s on the mound. He does mean a lot to this team.. He's been really consistent getting deep in the game where we need it. I think other pitchers feed off him too. He just leads by example.”