NEW YORK_No matter how many times New York Mets fans try to wake up from the nightmare where baseball's best starter turns into a ghost of his former self, shaking oneself awake is not going to work.
Jacob deGrom pitching like a fifth starter is the new reality. At least until he figures it out.
For his third straight start, deGrom couldn't make it past five innings. The reigning National League Cy Young winner gave up five earned runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over four frames en route to the Mets' 10-2 loss against the Brewers on Friday night at Citi Field.
DeGrom's latest disastrous outing arrived after a trip to the 10-day injured list. The 30-year-old was dealing with right elbow soreness and strep throat, following his last start against the Braves on April 14.
When an MRI on deGrom's ailing elbow showed no bone damage, it seemed like the ace was out of the woods and the worst was in the past.
DeGrom underwent Tommy John surgery on the very same elbow eight years ago. He had surgery to reposition the ulnar nerve in his right arm in 2016. Then deGrom dealt with a hyperextended elbow last season. How much worse could it get?
As it turns out, without an injury to blame for deGrom's struggles, his past three starts are simply confounding.
Throwing deGrom on a soggy mound in cold temperatures after a two hour and 42 minute delay was a poor decision by the Mets that could clarify at least some of deGrom's struggles on Friday.
DeGrom raised his season ERA to 4.85 after giving up five runs all in the third inning against Milwaukee. He gave up a leadoff single to one of the NL's best hitters in Christian Yelich, then turned his back and allowed the outfielder to swipe his second bag of the game.
Allowing speed on the basepaths is just another one of deGrom's puzzling problems. The right-hander capped off his fifth season start leading all major league pitchers in stolen bases allowed with nine.
Even deGrom's velocity was down on Friday. Instead of the electrifying 98-99 mph heaters fans saw zipping past opposing hitters and recording strikeout after strikeout, deGrom could barely clock in his fastball at 96 mph.
On top of all the damage, the ace's command escaped him when deGrom hit two batters and issued a pair of four-pitch walks. DeGrom exited the game after four innings on just 89 pitches � a major drop off from his usual 90-plus outings.
If a silver lining prevailed, it was that deGrom avoided giving up a home run on Friday for the first time since his impressive 14-strikeout start in Miami on April 3. DeGrom had allowed three home runs against the Minnesota Twins and two long balls against the Atlanta Braves in his previous two starts.
When right-hander Corey Oswalt replaced deGrom in the fifth inning and gave up four more runs, the game was all but over. Even for these newfound offensively powered Mets, the Brewers bashing the Mets with 10 runs was too much for a comeback.
