New York, NY – A DeLeon Springs native is about to become the first former Stetson University baseball player to play in a World Series.
Jacob deGrom will be the likely starting pitcher for the New York Mets when Game 1 of the 2015 World Series starts Tuesday night.
deGrom has been the Mets’ ace all season long, winning all 3 of his postseason starts as the Mets swept the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series. deGrom was the winning pitcher in the Game 5 clincher against LA.
The 27-year-old has been a revelation for the Mets since coming up from the minors last year.
deGrom won Major League Baseball’S NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, finishing the year with a 9-6 record and a 2.69 earned run average in 140 and 1/3rd innings of work. He also had 144 strikeouts on the season, including tying the MLB record with 8 consecutive strikeouts to start a game. That came against the Miami Marlins.
This year, deGrom has been even better, sporting a 14-8 record with a 2.54 ERA in 30 starts while fanning 205 batters. Opponents are batting just .215 against the All-Star.
His path to the “Big Show” was temporarily derailed in 2011 by Tommy John surgery, but even before that, deGrom was not a highly regarded prospect coming out of Stetson. The Mets made him a 9th round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft.
The former Hatter will be formally recognized by the school on November 13th when he’s inducted into the Stetson Athletics Hall of Fame alongside 3 others, including current Athletics Director Jeff Altier.
deGrom played for Stetson Head Coach Pete Dunn from 2008 to 2010, starting his career as an infielder before becoming a pitcher.
“It is only fitting that we are bringing Jacob into our Hall of Fame at this time of year when he is performing on the biggest stage possible,” Dunn said. “He made the move to the mound to help his team, even though he was recruited to be a shortstop.”
The induction ceremony will start at 5:30pm at the Wayne G. Sanborn Activity Center on Alabama Avenue in DeLand.
Photo of deGrom from his Hatter days (courtesy of GoHatters.com)
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.