I shot 160 km of anger from the start… World’s best pitcher, 242 billion won revealed

 Shortly before the start of the exhibition game, when the news of Jacob deGrom (35‧ Texas)’s side injury was reported, Texas fans were disheartened. Conversely, the other team’s fans were in an atmosphere of ‘something to come’. It was a glimpse of deGrom’s prejudice about the body.

He is acclaimed as the best pitcher on 메이저사이트the planet, but deGrom has not been able to show his greatness due to his injury. He started in 12 games in 2020, 15 in 2021 and 11 last year. In his last two years, he has pitched just 156⅓ innings.

This is why Texas, which offered deGrom a five-year contract worth 185 million dollars (approximately 242 billion won) despite an outstanding ERA of 1.90 during this period, continued to be evaluated as gambling. In fact, the New York Mets, the team that most likely knows deGrom’s physical condition, were reluctant to give him a contract of more than three years even if he raised the average annual amount.

But deGrom is deGrom. He is still a top pitcher when healthy. On the 20th (Korean time), this was proved in an exhibition match against Seattle. Against Seattle, where a significant number of key players participated, he announced a smooth start with 2 hits and 4 strikeouts in 3 innings and no runs pitched.

He pitched aggressively as if to shake off the resentment of not being able to play due to his side injury. In three innings he threw 34 balls, a whopping 28 of which were strikes. He implied that he checked his condition and pitch regardless of the outcome of the game.

The restraints were still there. DeGrom, who had already thrown the ball at close to 100 miles per hour (161 km) from the bullpen, generally maintained a speed of 97 to 99 miles (156 to 159 km) that day, and the highest was 100 miles per hour. In the third inning, the last batter, Jared Kelnick, hit 99 mph with four consecutive fastballs from 2B. DeGrom eventually ended the inning by striking out Kelnick.

Texas, which is ready to run in earnest after rebuilding with a new stadium, needs deGrom’s health. As long as he is healthy, it has already been proven that he is an S-class pitcher. If deGrom leads the rotation and the starting pitchers recruited this year perform as expected, the strongest rotation in the American League West can be established.