Jacob deGrom

“Normally when I look at stuff, I try to look at the good things. When I watch video, I try to watch the good starts so I can see how my mechanics are in those.”

“We do take pride in how we look, but it's really just like, take a couple minutes, and you're ready to go.”

“This is something I've wanted to do my whole life is play baseball, and I think just the opportunity to put on a big-league uniform every day is just... you know, people dream of it, but not everybody gets to do it. I'm thankful every day I get to do it.”

“Look good, feel good, play good.”

“I'm the kind of person that if I try to throw it hard, it doesn't come out as good. So my whole thought process is to stay smooth, stay on top of the ball, and just get my hand out in front.”

“Whenever we had career day at elementary school, and we could dress up like what you wanted to be, when I got on stage, mine was playing major league baseball.”

“When I watch video, I try to watch the good starts so I can see how my mechanics are in those. Every once in a while, I'll look at video starts that I struggled, and sometimes in those, there is no mechanical problems; it's just, didn't have good stuff that day.”

“I had Tommy John my first year in pro ball. Going through that rehab process, I think that's what really helped me become a better pitcher, because I was kind of new to it, and I think it helped me learn how to repeat my delivery. It was a crazy journey.”

“I think in high school and college, you don't really know what your routine is going to be; you're still trying to come up with it.”

“The offseason is when you try to gain strength. You have 162 games during the year, so you've got to pick and choose the times work out.”

“You never want to see a guy struggle. And we've all struggled. It's part of the game.”

“You're going to work out and try to maintain the strength you gain in the offseason, and then you work to gain after the season is over.”

“When I'm away from the field, I show a little more emotion and stuff.”

“My approach every game is to try to keep the ball down and get ground ball outs.”

“When I'm sleeping, if it gets in my face, sometimes it'll wake me up.”

“There's been a couple of guys who have gotten me. I used to say Adrian Gonzalez. He's a good lefty hitter; he's hit a few home runs off of me. They were a couple of mistakes, so if you make your pitches, you're more likely to have a better outcome.”

“You'll hear 'Hippie,' or, 'Get a haircut.' I like it. I think it's funny because they think we've never heard that before. So, like, good one.”

“I don't think I care about the hair as much as people think I do. It's just kind of there. It's not really a big deal to me. It actually drives me nuts. It's always in my face if I don't have a hat on. I might have to get rid of it.”

“I actually had a buzz cut all the way to my junior year in college. I would just buzz my head with a one-guard all over, and then I started growing it out. When I had Tommy John, that was the last time it was buzzed. I've grown it ever since then.”

“Play a little light catch and only some short sprints for me. Then on the day-of, it's just getting loosened up and ready to go out there and pitch.”