As I walk the dogs in the rain, i wonder what happens when Jacob deGrom returns from his four weeks of rest. Of course, I know the answer at some level, and that's that we won't know until perhaps three or more weeks after that, as deGrom cycles up to competitive status, by doing minor league starts at one or more level, and then gradually being stretched through abbreviated big league starts. That's a best case scenario, and even if they get him restored to something like full capacity, it's still going to be with kid gloves. He won't see the fifth inning or beyond until ... mid-June? And it would be a stunning exception if he gets two outs into the seventh any time this season — a season which, lest it be overlooked, could well be his last as a Met. What I'm getting at is that we have a Hall-of-Fame talent in our grasp, pitching at a staggeringly consistent Hall-of-Fame level even when not 100%, but frustratingly unable to stay on the field. He considers his goal to be beyond the Hall of Fame, but to reach inner-circle Hall of Fame status. His own words. Not mine But reality is in front of us, and the reality is that his late arrival, injuries, kid gloves policies, bullpen failures, and offensive ineptitiude on the days he pitches have conspired him to put him behind the eight-ball — years behind the eight-ball. He may want to be an inner-circle Hall of Fame, but it would take a heckuva turn of fortune to achieve 200 wins, and even the idea of 100 wins currently feels like a hit-or-miss prospect. Fitty-fitty. I dunno. But what I do know if you've got a starting pitcher who is pitching at an elite level, but only giving you 77 innings per season, you can maximize this by making him a closer. He's got the wicked fastball-slider package of a top closer, his ridiculously consistency could turn out to be a terrifying asset out of the pen, and his 77 innings might net him 45 saves per year rather than eight wins. It's madness. It's insane. My fingers hate me for typing it. Managing to compiling totals is against my DNA. But the Mets' closer is also in the last year of his contract, and deGrom may well provide more chills over a longer time as a closer unleashed than as a starter in bubble wrap. And I've already just lived through the long slow death of David Wright's career, so I may be averse to seeing another Hall-of-Fame trajectory explode mid-flight. I should be beaten up for even suggesting it, but up in Cooperstown, there are two relief pitchers that show it can work. It has to be something that can be talked about, right? And maybe instead of deGrom Day being something that happens every five days (if we're lucky) and always ends by the sixth inning, followed by three innings of agita, it can be something that can happen on any day, with your confidence growing from the sixth inning on, knowing that they won't deploy him until they gotta. And he gets to walk off the field smiling after shaking his catcher's hand, rather than sitting in the dugout, shitting his way through the last three innings, worrying about his efforts going for naught. Again. And again, that's pretty much a best-case scenario. I dunno. If it isn't time to talk about it, it may be soon. [fimg=622]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Jacob-deGrom-celebrates-after-Fridays-Mets-win..jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024[/fimg]