Jacob deGrom: 'My Arm Feels Great' Despite Mets SP's Recent Struggles

New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom said Friday night he's healthy despite his early-season struggles continuing with five earned runs in four innings in a 10-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

"My arm feels great. That's what's frustrating about it," DeGrom told reporters. "Felt really good, good warming up. To go there and do that, that's embarrassing. I stunk."

The 2018 National League Cy Young Award winner and Mets manager Mickey Callaway agreed it's a mechanical issue—Callaway noted deGrom has been "leaving the rubber a little quick"—and are hopeful it can be ironed out over time.

"The easy part is diagnosing it and then the hard part, even if you're doing it on a regular routine, is to fix it," Callaway told reporters.

DeGrom, who had a brief stint on the 10-day injury list for elbow discomfort before returning Friday, added: "I think it's just getting my reps in and taking the bullpen sessions into the game."

The advanced numbers suggest bad luck is also a factor.

DeGrom has seen his home run to fly ball ratio jump to 20.8 percent, nearly double his career average (10.5 percent), and his batting average against on balls in play is .389, which is almost a full 100 points higher than his career figure (.295), per FanGraphs.

In turn, while his ERA is at 4.85 after posting a microscopic 1.70 mark in 2018, there's a far smaller difference in his ERA estimators: xFIP (2.60 last year; 2.94 this year) and SIERA (2.78 last year; 2.91 this year).

His fastball velocity is also right on par with last year, and his strikeout rate is an outstanding 14.88 per nine innings. The only serious concerns are his walk rate (3.46, up from 2.26 career) and his hard-hit percentage (47.5 percent; up from 29.8 percent).

So, while there might be a small mechanical flaw to fix, the overall picture still paints DeGrom as a dominant starter who should return to his typical form in the near future.

That's great news for the Mets, who've managed to post a 13-12 record and are a half-game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East lead despite their ace's surprisingly slow start.