POOR DEGROM - OPENING DAY RECAP
Well, the excitement of the 2021 season quickly turned to depression.
The excitement - deGrom’s pitching, and the great play by Pillar to throw out Rhys Hoskins at 3rd Base in the first inning.
The depression - everything after deGrom came out of the game.
deGrom was dominant in his Opening Day start, posting a line of 6IP/3H/0ER/7SO. When he also goes 2 for 3 with an RBI, you know the guy is an absolute monster. After he came out, it quickly went downhill, as is the norm.
Manager Luis Rojas made the (poor) decision to pull deGrom with only 74 pitches in the 6th inning of Opening Day. Hey Rojas, in case you haven’t seen a Mets game before, specifically a game in which deGrom is pitching, YOU DO NOT LET THE BULLPEN COME IN ANY EARLIER THAN THEY NEED TO. The bullpen has blown 31 wins for deGrom. 31!! To put that number into perspective for you, deGrom has started 183 games in his career. That means 17% of the games deGrom has started he didn't get a win because the Mets bullpen is as skilled as a little league roster. There is no reason you ever take out the best pitcher in baseball with 74 pitches, Rojas’ management of the bullpen continues to disgust me.
On top of the horrible management of the pitching, Rojas made a questionable defensive substitution, taking out JD Davis and replacing him at third with Luis Guillorme who made a huge throwing error, missing McCann at a force play at the plate allowing the go ahead run to score.
There were some bright spots, however. Conforto and Nimmo looked comfortable at the plate and Alonso’s swing looks much better than it did last season The Mets also showed heart, refusing to roll over and die in the top of the 9th with good plate appearances from Conforto, Lindor, and Alonso, but ended up coming up short.
The offense did record eight hits (10 if you include deGrom’s hits, which I won’t because he is not an everyday player) Pillar, Lindor, Alonso, Davis, and McCan all had a hit and Conforto had two. The Mets however did strand six RISP.
All I know is I cannot watch the bullpen do this all season, figure it out, and figure it out quick otherwise the season will be over before you know it.
But hey, it's only game 1 of 162, right? Stay positive!
Conclusion: Rojas is not a Major League manager, he has clearly shown in game one of the season that he has not learned anything in the 60 games he managed last year
