For the first time this season, we've got a starting pitcher making his second start. Just happens to probably be the best one left!

Pablo Lopez vs Jacob deGrom

PabLopez is coming off of a fantastic season debut. Five innings, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts and no walks. 6 of his outs were via ground ball and 2 more were pop-ups (the only fly balls he allowed). He got 10 swinging strikes out of his 61 pitches, which is fairly decent. His xFIP based on that start alone is 0.89, also super good! His fastball averaged 93.5 mph, which matched his 2019 average - so that's a good sign, considering slightly more than half of his pitches were fastballs in that start. Let's see if that trend continues!

Lopez also leaned a bit on his change-up, throwing it 31% of the time in his last start. He may actually need to do this again, or even more so, given how aggressive the Mets are at swinging earlier in the count. 195 of the team's 590 plate appearances have resulted in a first pitch swing, about 1/3 of their times up.

deGrom is deGrom, we know what he is. Reigning back to back Cy Young winner, used to be a shortstop in college, all that. Has not made it through 6 innings yet this year, however. Half the batted balls in his last start were hard hit as well, and in general he seems to be getting hit harder this season. Small sample size, yes - but his hard hit percentage is up by 14% over his career number. Might be something to look out for. His xFIP however is lower than his career number, so while he's been hit hard, perhaps they're in good spots? His fly ball rates are way up as well. Certainly some interesting things to look at there.

deGrom's fastball velo is WAY up this year. 96 mph average in 2018, 96.9 in 2019, and so far, he's averaged 98.8 mph this year in three starts. That's bonkers, friends. His slider has been shown to touch 95 this year, and his fastball and slider so far this season have been fairly equal in use (39.2% and 34.2% respectively) - his change-up has been his main 3rd pitch, at 22% usage.

Pitcher	Batter	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
P. Lopez	J. McNeil	6	4	3	1	0	1	1	1	0	0.750	0.833	1.750	2.583
P. Lopez	M. Conforto	5	5	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	0.600	0.600	1.200	1.800
P. Lopez	A. Rosario	7	6	2	0	0	1	4	1	2	0.333	0.429	0.833	1.262
P. Lopez	J. Davis	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.667	0.667	0.667	1.333
P. Lopez	W. Ramos	5	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0.200	0.200	0.200	0.400
P. Lopez	B. Dozier	7	6	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.167	0.286	0.167	0.452
P. Lopez	P. Alonso	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.200	0.000	0.200
P. Lopez	B. Nimmo	7	6	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0.000	0.143	0.000	0.143

 

Pitcher	Batter	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
J. deGrom	J. Berti	12	12	5	3	0	0	0	0	2	0.417	0.417	0.667	1.083
J. deGrom	B. Anderson	27	25	7	2	0	1	3	1	4	0.280	0.333	0.480	0.813
J. deGrom	J. Villar	6	5	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	0.400	0.500	0.600	1.100
J. deGrom	M. Sierra	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.667	0.667	0.667	1.333
J. deGrom	J. Aguilar	3	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.333	0.333	0.667	1.000
J. deGrom	L. Forsythe	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
J. deGrom	C. Dickerson	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
J. deGrom	F. Cervelli	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
J. deGrom	M. Joyce	7	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0
J. deGrom	L. Brinson	20	20	4	1	0	0	2	0	8	0.200	0.200	0.250	0.450

Thank you @FishFan95for your service and your dedication to the win streak. ❤️ Marlins couldn't have done it without you. Whether you're Todd or Paul or Don or whoever you were during the run, you did it.

Win the series!

Updated the original post with some numbers and stuff.

deGrom is scary good

Lehgo Mahlens

What the fuck? Fox Sports Florida in Orlando is showing TENNIS CLASSICS at 1. There's literally ZERO REASON why this game isn't on there today.

Thank goodness for Fox Sports GO but this is bullshit.

VR with the start again at DH

No real other options to replace him TBH. Hope a stern talking to fixed his offensive approach

Just now, Michael said:

What the fuck? Fox Sports Florida in Orlando is showing TENNIS CLASSICS at 1. There's literally ZERO REASON why this game isn't on there today.

Thank goodness for Fox Sports GO but this is bullshit.

Is there an alternate FSFlorida channel there? DirecTV has one.

4 minutes ago, SonOfJack said:

Is there an alternate FSFlorida channel there? DirecTV has one.

Not with Spectrum, no. At least not that I saw.

No matter what, that is absolutely ridiculous. If the Orlando Magic were playing at 1, I get that. That's usually priority here, so, whatever. But to have a REPLAY of a TENNIS MATCH over a LIVE BASEBALL GAME ... fucking ridiculous.

Pablo better get those calls, too!

GO FISH!

off subject, but when are umpires going to inspect hats before each inning, and i guess what's the approach to determine illegal substance or not. 

How did Villar get the start again?

That's a good Dick.

21 minutes ago, Michael said:

Not with Spectrum, no. At least not that I saw.

No matter what, that is absolutely ridiculous. If the Orlando Magic were playing at 1, I get that. That's usually priority here, so, whatever. But to have a REPLAY of a TENNIS MATCH over a LIVE BASEBALL GAME ... fucking ridiculous.

Can you watch on FoxSportsGo?  I do that sometimes with the computer when I'm not near the TV.

2 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Can you watch on FoxSportsGo?  I do that sometimes with the computer when I'm not near the TV.

I am watching on FSGO but the point is I shouldn't have to today. They shouldn't be showing a replay of a tennis game over a live Baseball game when the best pitcher in baseball is on the mound.

And I know what you're thinking, "OK you're overrating him, Michael," but damn it Pablo is good.

OK Pablo got that outside corner, too. Good.

3 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

How did Villar get the start again?

who else would it be?

Besides Cervelli (not with the speed)

Just now, Michael said:

OK Pablo got that outside corner, too. Good.

Yeah as long as an ump calls it the same way both sides, I don't care what his strike zone is.

Just now, SonOfJack said:

Yeah as long as an ump calls it the same way both sides, I don't care what his strike zone is.

Yep - Eric Gregg in the 97 NLCS man. He gave both sides that zone but Braves fans still bitch about it to this day. lol

Dick with some good D too.

Good beginning for Pablo's outing.

Hey are we winning this one or not? I got things to do and I wanna know if I should watch.

2 minutes ago, Michael said:

Dick with some good D too.

You did this on purpose