HOUSTON -- Some starting pitchers search for their inner warrior as they warm up in the bullpen before a game, trying to build intensity, focusing on slights real and imagined, silently going through their work and feeding off the echoes of a fastball popping their catcher's mitt.
When Jacob deGrom warms up, however, he sometimes turns to pitching coach Dave Eiland and says something funny, with a grin. A humorous aside, or an observation. Eiland laughs, and then deGrom turns to the catcher to throw his next pitch and somehow, in that instant, that expression of competitiveness that his teammates recognize immediately returns -- like a great actor transforming into character when somebody yells Action!