On the surface they couldn’t be more different. Matt Harvey is broad-shouldered and Broadway. Jacob deGrom is slender and tight-lipped, often barely noticeable within the confines of the Mets clubhouse.
But Harvey and deGrom are the same person on a pitcher’s mound. That is Harvey’s assessment having watched the 26-year-old rookie pitch a handful of games for the Mets this season.
“He’s a little goofy, a little quiet, but when he gets on the mound you can tell that he means business,” Harvey said before deGrom dominated the Giants in a 4-2 victory Saturday night at Citi Field. “As somebody who is like that when I take the mound, I can notice other guys who are like that.”
Harvey-mania gripped the Big Apple last season. We’ve now reached the point where deGrom delirium is taking over.
Maybe deGrom’s finest work came Saturday. In a stare down with Jake Peavy, it was deGrom who blinked first and allowed a base runner. But when Peavy finally cracked, a flood ensued.
DeGrom walked Brandon Belt in the fifth, allowed his first hit, a double to Pablo Sandoval, in the seventh and departed with a four-hitter and two runs allowed over 7 ¹/₃ innings.
Peavy was perfect for 6 ¹/₃ innings, but after Daniel Murphy doubled over Michael Morse’s head, the deluge was about to begin. The Mets finished the inning with four hits and a 4-0 lead.
DeGrom is 6-1 with a 1.52 ERA over his last eight starts and has served notice the Mets have a third amigo to join Harvey and Zack Wheeler in the 2015 rotation.
Harvey calls it a “fearless” mentality that sets deGrom apart from many others. The goal as a pitcher in the minors is figuring out what it will take to reach the majors — what pitches you need to show you can command in addition to getting outs. Once you get to the majors, it’s all about the end result.
“Watching him, it just seems he knows, ‘All I have to do is get that guy out,’ ” Harvey said. “And you can kind of see that when he’s on the mound. He has that presence where, ‘Hey, it’s me vs. you, I’m going to stay here and I’m getting you out.’
“I have talked to him a little bit and I think he has that mindset where he gets on the mound and he’s kind of fearless. He pounds the zone, he doesn’t walk guys and he’s not afraid.”
Harvey carries that same gunslinger’s mentality, and fits the part. DeGrom is more the silent assassin.
“I am a competitor and go right after guys,” deGrom said. “I feel like that when we get on that mound, we are kind of the same way.”
The Mets like to tease deGrom because of his long hair. That includes a poster near deGrom’s locker that shows a Mets cap with flowing hair underneath and the message “#Hairwego.” The poster includes a snippet of deGrom’s hair.
Harvey, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery — he works out in Port St. Lucie, Fla., when the Mets are on the road — said he doesn’t watch the away games, so he missed deGrom’s back-to-back gems against the Mariners and Brewers on the last trip. He was front and center for Saturday’s masterpiece, sitting with deGrom between innings.
Last year at this time, Harvey had just begun hearing deGrom’s name — the two had never crossed paths in the minor leagues.
“I had no idea who he was until maybe the All-Star break last year,” Harvey said. “Through the media, the big talk at the time was [Noah] Syndergaard, and then I started hearing about [deGrom] midway through the season and how good he was doing.”
More than midway through another season, the Mets appreciate how well deGrom is pitching for a team that has refused to quit on the season.
Harvey-mania is on the shelf, but the Mets have deGrom delirium to carry them through.