Ace In The Hole

Coming into this season, there was a lot of hype surrounding the New York Mets, as there should have been. It was  at the top of the pitching staff. They already had two time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom set at the top. Then they brought in Max Scherzer on a two year deal. It made for one of the most lethal one two punches at the top of a rotation ever. That fire was put out for a spell, with deGrom having shoulder issues during training camp and missing the start of the season.

Well now the wait is finally over, as deGrom is back at the top of the staff with Mad Max.

New York announced late last week that deGrom makes his season debut this upcoming week. His first scheduled start back in the rotation  is this Tuesday night, a 7:05 start in Washington against the Nationals. This will be coming a day after Max Scherzer starts against those same Nationals. The one two punch will be in effect starting the beginning of next week. The vibe around the team is positive with Jake coming back. He, along with Pete Alonso, are the faces of this Mets team. And getting him back is a big boost to anlready solid pitching staff.

It seems like it always happens once a generation if you will with the Mets having that dominating, face of the franchise pitcher on the staff. First it was Seaver, then it was Doc, and now its Jake. With him and Mad Max here, its a one two punch that the Mets haven't seen since Sever and Koosman.

Sure there's more that's going to have to fall into place for the Mets to really go deep into a playoff run this season, but getting Jake back into the rotation is a huge plus for a team that's already good. There is one thing I realized, as I'm writing this. How impactful is Jake going to be? I'm not really expecting to be at his full dominating self that us Mets fans have come to have the pleasure of watching right out of the gate. It's going to take a little bit of time for deGrom to find that stride of his game again. If all goes right, we could get that version of Jake back by the time the playoffs roll around in October.

Now I'm sure the Mets coaching staff is going to be keeping a very close watch on Jake his first few outings with him just getting back into the swing of things at this level. But just having the thought of a returning Jake and paired up with Scherzer doing what he's been doing this season, it brings big smiles and even a few tears to Mets fans eyes.