Along comes DeGrom, some 26-year-old no-name who had never been rated among the top prospects in the game and, the year before his debut, posted a 4.51 ERA in the minors.

I remember thinking, "Jacob who?" Yet, he kept pitching well and had a stunning -- Rookie of the Year winning -- initial campaign. Surely, he would be a one-year wonder ...

Or not. While Harvey fizzled and Syndergaard underachieved, while Wheeler and Matz settled in as a good-but-not-great innings-eaters, deGrom became the superstar.

His 2018 campaign was amazing: 269 strikeouts and a league-leading 1.70 ERA. a Cy Young season. Could it get any better? Yes. Two straight Cy Young Awards, his second on the back of 255 strikeouts, which paced the loop, and a 2.43 ERA.

deGrom has been a stalwart in these trying times, times when they seem to get so close to dominance, but continue to fall short. At least one man has stayed dominant through it all. The one we least expected: Jacob deGrom.

Well, he surprised me upon his comeback this year, posting a 1.66 ERA through his first seven starts. But his past three indicate that all might not be well in deGromland, as he's posted a 6.60 ERA in that stretch. It's a small sample size, but considering all the factors, the tendrils of worry should be creeping into our peripherals at this point.

Johan Santana wasn't the same after his injury. Matt Harvey wasn't the same after missing a year. Pedro Martinez crumbled after his health issues. Unfortunately, and this might just be my Mets cynicism speaking, I think we might have to prepare ourselves for the painful demise of deGrom in the relatively near future, as well.

I hope I'm proven wrong.

It's disappointing that deGrom had only four complete games among his 209 starts as a Mets pitcher. If he had just been allowed the opportunity to finish his games without a pitch count being applied or the phantom need for multiple relievers, he could have surpassed Tom Seaver's team record of 2,541 strikeouts. Jacob averaged 10.9 Ks per nine innings during his nine years in New York, while Seaver (with more than twice as many innings pitched as deGrom) had a 7.5 ratio as a Met. Over the missing innings of his 205 non-completions, deGrom would have needed four to five more strikeouts per game to achieve Seaver's mark. I like to believe this was within his reach. Jacob may or may not have been a better pitcher than Tom, but he was denied the chance for true comparison to Seaver due to his being removed after six or seven IPs constantly. It should never have been this way!

I'm sure that Jacob's success will continue with the Texas Rangers. I just hope his eventual Hall of Fame plaque shows him wearing a Mets cap.

With his floppy hair, he was still electric in the 2015 All Star Game; I think he struck out all three batters he faced. That's the "Jake" I remember fondly; more so than "Jacob", the dominating Cy Young Award winner of 2018-2019. I remember him being especially great in Spring Training and on Opening Day. I just checked and in 2019, 2020, 2021, he got the first start of the year and totaled 17 IP, 25 K, and a 0.00 ERA.

Yet, when it counted, he wasn't so great. In the 2015 World Series he had a 7.20 ERA in one start, and in September 2022, his record was 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA.

In sum, he was okay. I'd rather the Mets pay his salary to Justin Verlander, just to have Kate Upton around.

There's one amazing stat about deGrom that stands out above all others. In his entire career, he has pitched FOUR complete games.

Dwight Gooden had 16 complete games in 1985 alone.