NEW YORK — You wouldn’t have known a thing.
Three hours before his return to the place he made his legend, Jacob deGrom sat in the visitors clubhouse for the first time at Citi Field, stone-faced, scrolling his phone and enduring stoically the strains of “Me Mata,” by Dany Ome, that somebody had not-so-graciously turned to 11 on the light-up boom box.
On the inside, though, deGrom was a mess Friday.
“I wanted to throw up all day,” he said a few minutes after pitching seven innings in the Rangers’ 8-3 series-opening win over the Mets. “Honestly, it felt like I was making my debut, really. There were nerves, obviously. I hadn’t been back here.”
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The Mets added to the emotions by playing a minute-long highlight reel on the video board just as deGrom started his pregame throwing in the outfield. He looked up to the board directly above, saw some highlights — lots with the old long-locked look of his nine years with the Mets — and had to look back down, lest he get too emotional. He was still nervous, he said, when he walked to the dugout.
Imagine this, though. The Rangers’ offense took care of the rest. On Stranger Things night, the oft-underwhelming Rangers gave him something the Mets never did at Citi Field: a six-run first inning to work with.
Of course, oft-underwhelming is so “last summer.” Now, this is a completely different team. It took three first-inning walks against rookie Jonah Tong and delivered all six runs after there were two outs, with five of them scoring on two-strike hits. That’ll calm a stomach far more quickly than a Tums.
Though the long inning did add some momentary angst, when he got to the mound on which he’d started 109 previous times with a big lead, he felt right where he needed to be. In command.
“I think I did a decent job [of handling the emotions],” he said. “When they played the video, I looked at it for a second and had to look down and gather myself to get ready for the game. But once first pitch happened, it was all right, ‘Here we go. Gotta try to get some outs.’”
Did that quickly, too, getting the aggressive Mets on just six pitches in the first and nine pitches in the second. There was some hard contact, but deGrom also had a big lead to play with, allowing him to let the Mets be their most aggressive. They struck out only twice, tying for the fewest strikeouts deGrom ever produced in a Citi Field start.
All that aggressiveness ended up doing was set the Rangers up even better for a key weekend. Saving pitches early allowed deGrom to get through seven innings on just 88 pitches, the first time he’s pitched that deep since June 25. The Mets, meanwhile, had to go to the bullpen in the first inning and used five relievers. They used four the night before in Philadelphia as they tried to stop a losing streak that reached seven games on Friday. Their bullpen is so spent, they might have to pluck somebody from the Alumni Game (formerly Old Timers) that precedes Saturday afternoon’s game.
The Rangers had a day off on Thursday, so the bullpen is perfectly fresh. The two relievers who did pitch — Robert Garcia and Phil Maton — threw 16 and 13 pitches, respectively. They can go again on Saturday. All critical developments for a team that has inched to within two games of both the AL West and the final AL wild card spot by winning 15 of its last 19.
And, really, emotions aside, it’s the late run at a playoff berth that matters.
“They are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “They are finding ways to put runs on the board. And sometimes things get contagious. They start doing the little things to help win ballgames. They put the ball in play and did a great job.
“I’m sure Jacob had a lot of emotions running through his head tonight, but he did a great job of controlling them.”
DeGrom had brought his whole family back, including his parents. They were there for his debut in 2014 when he went seven innings and allowed the Yankees just a run … and lost 1-0.
They were there for the return on Friday, too. He had missed the chance in 2023, being just eight weeks out from elbow surgery and didn’t even make the trip so he could “just stay out of the way.”
But he’s been healthy again and wanted to pitch in New York from the time the schedule came out. The only question as the season wore on was whether the Rangers would shut him down due to workload. Instead, on Friday he reached 162 innings for the year, meaning he will qualify for the ERA title this season, the first time since 2020.
“I wanted a chance to pitch here,” deGrom said. “I knew it was late, but I wanted that chance.”
He got it on Friday. He brought back memories. And he pitched himself a little closer to playing in October, too.
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