PORT ST. LUCIE — Jacob deGrom leaned heavily on his slider Wednesday for the simple reason nothing else was working.
The Mets righty, in his Grapefruit League debut for this spring, allowed five hits and one run over three innings against the Yankees in a game that ended in a 4-4 tie.
“The slider was probably the pitch I had the most control of, and I was throwing a lot of them, just because I was struggling with throwing the fastball and changeup for a strike,” deGrom said.
His fastball woes included a pitch that sailed over catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s head.