I sincerely and truly was about to write that “Mets fan should take it for granted that, when healthy, the duo of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer may be the GOAT, the greatest of all time.”
But, facing the worst hitting home team in baseball in many years, Oakland, with a chance to bring the hammer down, and to keep the lead over the Braves at 2.5 games as another game passed from the calendar…with a 3-0 first inning lead Saturday, Jake…choked.
Is it sacrilegious to say that?
The adulated man has just a .594 career win %. Pretty good…but not great. Rick Reed had a better win %.
The man who receives virtually universal adulation has started 208 MLB games and won just 82 of them. That’s under 40%. Against under .500 teams, he wins roughly 65% of his decisions and 46 of his 105 starts.
Compare to Max, who has won nearly 74% of his decisions against sub .500 teams (117-42). And, I have very little doubt, above 80% against <.500’s since he truly became Max at age 27 (before 2012, he was just 36-35).
Max has a killer instinct that Koufax had. Jake does not. Sorry, that’s my take. Koufax was 31-4 against the lowly Mets and Astros. Oakland is lowly, but Jake couldn’t get it done.
The Cubs are lowly, too. On Sept 13, Jake lost to them, too. Against weak hitting Pittsburgh, also lowly, on Sept 18, he was freaky good for 5, with 13 Ks, only to cough up the 3-0 lead by allowing 3 sixth inning runs in a game ultimately won by the Mets with a late surge, 7-3, where JDG got an ND.
That’s 3 times he couldn’t get it done, in the Sept stretch run, vs. lousy teams.
In 2015’s World Series, after the Mets lost game 1 to the underdog Royals, Jake lost game 2, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings in a must-win game. Choked.
Cue in the excuses…he’s coming off injury…he’s fragile, etc. I reply, he lacks a hammer in his toolbox.
That’s all I have to say. Hope this didn’t make you choke on your breakfast.
10 comments:
No one has contributed more than Jake has over the years; howevr,, his last 3 outings had issues
Is he cooked for the season?
I would greatly limit his pitches in his next outing.
Maybe he is cooked. What, then, for nextyearL
I would seriously consider using this $ for Diaz and Bassett
Yes. Spend wisely.
Well, my brother agreed with me when he read it.
Sadly, I think his best has already happened…….he’s still quite capable, but I fear his body will continue to betray him. I would think long and hard about spending big money on an extension.
I would make a decision in November, not September. Let it play out and see how he does. Scherzer compiled most of those wins with the Washington Nationals offense, deGrom had some scrubs as teammates. Everything Oakland hit was finding holes that day. Too, McNeil didn’t help in the first inning. In his career, like all the ga es he has ever pit hed in the majors, JDG has a 1.09 ERA in his wins. No luck there! In 70 no decisions, his ERA is 2.29. Can we stop looking for excuses to get rid of him?
For context, mad Max’s numbers are 1.93 and 3.43, while Randy Johnson’s were 1.86 and 3.85. Remember when Seattle astutely got rid of Johnson when he turned 34 for a big haul from Houston? Yea, I am sure they remember it in Seattle too.
Gus, of course, Jake has been betrayed in past years by the pen, and in almost every year by the bats. I just wonder if there is something about Max that fires up the hitters in a way that Jake does not. Perhaps, the hitters have pressed to not let Jake down. With Max, it is like Braveheart, leading his warriors into battle. Maybe that is not it at all. Interested in your thoughts on the psychological aspects.
You’re kidding? Maybe you don’t give him 40 million a year and spend the money on Turner,Correa or Ohtani but the guy is…..DeGrom!
Post a Comment