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Rockies' Gonzalez on deGrom: 'The best pitcher in the game, hands down'

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Carlos Gonzalez knows a good pitcher when he sees one, mainly because he can't see the ball.

Having faced some of the game's best in his own division - Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Madison Bumgarner to name a few - the Colorado Rockies outfielder pegs a New York Mets starter as baseball's top arm.

"(Jacob) deGrom is the best pitcher in the game, hands down," Gonzalez told MLB.com's Thomas Harding after going 0-for-3 with a strikeout Wednesday - one of deGrom's 10 on the night. "I've faced a lot of good pitchers, but his stuff is the best I've seen all year."

The compliment comes from a player who's hit 13 of his 26 homers since the All-Star break, to go with a second-half slash line of .333/.398/.828. On Monday, he accounted for one of Jon Niese's two earned runs by way of a solo shot.

Colorado is at home for the next little while, hosting the Washington Nationals beginning Tuesday before seeing the Mets again. Gonzalez singled out Nationals hurlers Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann, saying that, although their stuff is good, deGrom has secondary stuff that makes him more effective.

"Why?" Gonzalez said. "Because his fastball jumps. He throws 98 (mph). Zimmermann and Strasburg, those guys throw 98. But (deGrom's) changeup is also good. His cutter or slider that he throws has a lot of angle, and he had a sharp curveball, too.

"When you get two strikes against a guy like him, you don't even know what to look for. So that's tough as a hitter."

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