Dodgers Star Draws Backlash After Praising Opponent

Jacob deGrom mostly dominated the Dodgers on Wednesday night, allowing just one run on a Mookie Betts solo home run (and getting some help from his defense, as center-fielder Brandon Nimmo robbed Justin Turner of a game-tying homer).

Mookie's homer was a prodigious one, turning around a slider and hitting it 415 feet into the left-field seats. It was Betts' 32nd homer of the season, tying his career high.

After the game, as Bill Plunkett reports in the Orange County Register, Betts offered a glowing review of deGrom, both for the game and for his career.

“He’s pretty much the best, maybe the best to ever pitch,” Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts said. “I don’t think anybody does (compare). I think the stats kind of say that as well.”

Dodgers insider/poorslider David Vassegh did not care much for Mookie's comment. While acknowledging the possibility of some gamesmanship on Betts' part, he tore into the leadoff hitter on his postgame Dodger Talk show for heaping that kind of praise on deGrom.

"Come on, Mookie! Is this where you're trying to blow up his ego and then all of a sudden you're gonna crush him in October? I mean, are you kidding me, Mookie Betts? Jacob deGrom is not the greatest ever. Jacob deGrom isn't even the greatest ever of your generation. Will you stop it, Mookie? I mean, it is so obvious what he — I mean, I hope what he was trying to do, the rope-a-dope, where he's telling this guy, 'Man, you are so good. You are so awesome. But we're gonna beat you ... in October. ... This is unbelievable. Hey, by the way, Mookie, to be the greatest of all time, you actually have to pitch more than 14 times in a year."

Vassegh's point about deGrom's durability is a good one, as deGrom has made 30 starts in a season just four times in his nine-year career. For all his greatness, deGrom has made just 204 starts in his career. The fewest starts for a Hall of Fame starter is Dizzy Dean, who started 230 games and relieved in 87 others. But Dean had 52 percent more innings pitched than deGrom does. Sandy Koufax, whose career was famously short and who made the Hall of Fame on his elite peak rather than his overall career, made 110 more starts than deGrom (plus 83 relief appearances) and threw 79 percent more innings.

But what Vassegh misses is that Betts was talking about quality, not quantity. The 2.48 ERA of deGrom is better than any Hall of Fame starter in the live-ball era, and even a tiny bit better than Clayton Kershaw's 2.49.

A car can be the fastest car ever, even if it breaks down a lot, as long it's the fastest when it's on the road. You might not want to take that care on a long roadtrip, but if you're trying to win a race, it wouldn't be crazy to choose that car, cross your fingers, and hope it doesn't break down. That's Jacob deGrom.

There are way too many elements that go into a pitcher's "greatness" to definitively say who is the best. But when deGrom is healthy, he's absolutely in the conversation when we're talking about quality.