This Jacob deGrom pitch was called a ball for the first time ever, a breakdown
What Happened
New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom takes the mound against the New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres in a tense, close game. DeGrom, one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, is trying to protect a slim 1-0 lead as he enters the sixth inning. With the count at 2-0, deGrom fires a high fastball that the catcher wants, but the umpire calls it a ball, making it a 3-0 count. DeGrom looks perplexed, clearly believing the pitch was a strike. "2-1 is different than 3-0, but here's a strike on the outside," deGrom mutters, getting the call he wants on the next pitch. Torres swings and misses the 3-2 offering, evening the count. But deGrom is still upset about the previous ball call. "That's two, that at-bat the fastball in was a strike," he says to the umpire. The umpire tells deGrom, "Hey, that's enough. We're not arguing." DeGrom reluctantly walks away, still bothered by the call. Mets manager Buck Showalter then comes out to the mound, and after a brief discussion, deGrom is pulled from the game. As he walks off the field, deGrom continues to express his frustration, saying, "I want those twice. There, twice, you got me." The umpire later explains that he reviewed the pitch and determined it should have been called a strike, acknowledging the error. 's video breakdown reveals that the 2-0 pitch deGrom believed was a strike has historically been called a strike 64 out of 65 times since 2008, making this one of the rarest ball calls on that type of pitch. The 3-2 pitch was also borderline, but more subjective based on the batter's height. Nonetheless, deGrom has a strong case that the umpire missed two crucial strike calls in a tight ballgame. Despite the frustrating end to his outing, deGrom's dominant performance once again underscores his status as one of the game's premier pitchers. The Mets will need him at his best as they continue their push for a playoff spot in a tight National League East division race.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentde grom on the bump facing glaber this breakdown is brought to you by shady rays we got a 1-0 pitch
and then a 2-0 pitch he's trying to get into the sixth inning a 2-0 pitch fastball inside
he wants it catcher wants it 3-0 says the umpire de grom's like uh well that stinks 2-1 is different
than 3-0 but here's a strike on the outside you like that side of the plate okay i'll stay over
there but go up glaber swings through it he's back in it the count is full needs to hit a spot
needs to make his pitch low fastball 97 no he says that's two that at bat
the fastball in was a strike hey that's enough fucking i'm not arguing that right here we're
not arguing we're not arguing this go somewhere else it's all right he's walking away all right
he walked away i wasn't gonna argue with him thinking about it thinking about it bocce comes
out now de grom's got to come out of the game hand of god it reaches out gets the ball good job well
done de grom walks off he's still not happy about it he wants those twice there twice you got me
no not good umpire goes to his notebook he says check in on those two pitches and i did that for
him here is the inside fastball the
2-0 that he says is a strike that's the pitch i went and looked at the metrics of the pitch on
baseball savant so here's the pitch the 2-0 from de grom to glaber and you can look at where they
have it crossing the plate on the x-axis and the z-axis all that negative six five and two three
three uh in feet so i'm gonna go and i'm gonna look at all the years available all the way back
to 2008 and i'm gonna look for all pitches that crossed at negative point six five on the x-axis
2.33 on the z-axis and i'm only going to look at balls and called strikes where the umpire had to
make a decision 65 pitches how many of those 65 were strikes 64 which means there was only one of
those pitches called a ball since 2008 and that is this pitch in this video that de grom is saying
is a strike and history is on his side it has been a strike now this is the 3-2 pitch
which is harder to do that exercise because clearly it's over the plate but is it high or
is it low and that depends on glaber and his knees so you can't look at all pitches you have to look
at like pitches that have been that height to glaber and there's been five in his career that
are definitely in the middle of the zone that height that one was called a ball this one was
called a ball and then the one from this video was called a ball so three balls two strikes at
that height but the other one since 2008 pitches with that exact data never been called a ball
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