For the first time since signing with the Texas Rangers ahead of the 2023 season, Jacob deGrom will make his long-awaited return to Queens to face his former team, the New York Mets, at Citi Field on Friday night.
“I’m excited to go and pitch at Citi Field,” deGrom said (h/t Kennedy Landry, MLB.com), “That’s where I started my career, so it holds a special place in my heart — their alumni game is going on there too so some guys I came up with will be there as well, it’ll be an all-around cool experience.”
deGrom spent the first nine years of his MLB career in New York with the Mets, where he developed into arguably their third-greatest pitcher behind Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden.
The now-37-year-old won back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards in 2017 and 2018, in which he posted a 2.05 ERA and 0.941 WHIP across 64 starts. His 2017 campaign is considered one of the greatest single showings in team history, with a 1.70 ERA and 269 strikeouts.
With a trophy case that also boasts the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year and four All-Star Game nods, deGrom went 82-57 with a 2.55 ERA in his nine seasons with the Mets.
His time was ultimately hampered by injuries. He appeared in just 38 games from 2020-2022, with his ascent into the pantheon of all-time Mets completely severed when he opted to sign with the Rangers on a five-year deal before the 2023 season.
He appeared in just nine games in his first two years with Texas, but he is looking like the deGrom of old in 2025. In 27 starts, he is 11-7 with a 2.78 ERA and 169 strikeouts. Now he has an opportunity to intensify his struggling old team’s despair with a gem on Friday, when he squares off against one of New York’s bright young pitching stars, Jonah Tong.
“Mets fans were always good to me,” deGrom said. “Pitching in front of that crowd was always a fun experience; now I’m on the other side doing it. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes — all these games are important for us, same for them with the spot they’re in, so it’s going to be fun.”
