#Jacob deGrom’s approach to Mets’ Opening Day, Cy Young defense

At a time when the Cy Young race would normally be rounding into form, Jacob deGrom will finally start to defend his throne again Friday.

After shaking off a stiff back during spring training 2.0, deGrom is set to take the mound against the Braves at Citi Field for his second straight Opening Day start, on the hunt for a third straight Cy Young.

“It’s an honor,” deGrom said this week. “It’s awesome to be out there for the first game. It’s something that means a lot and definitely something I enjoy doing.”

Though the rotation around him looks different than it did on last year’s Opening Day — Noah Syndergaard is recovering from Tommy John surgery, Zack Wheeler is a Phillie, Jason Vargas is a free agent and his mid-season replacement, Marcus Stroman, is on the injured list with a calf tear — deGrom and Steven Matz (Saturday’s starter) have made it through to the other side after a chaotic offseason.

Now, the spotlight on deGrom will be even brighter as he tries to deliver his ace performance every fifth day in a 60-game sprint. It may look and feel different than it has in the past, but deGrom is up for the challenge.

“I think for me, when somebody steps in the box, I want to get them out,” said deGrom, who estimated he could throw 85-95 pitches Friday. “Even in the sim game I threw [Sunday], those are my teammates, but I wanted to get them out. You definitely feed off the fans. It’s going to be a little different. But I think just being out there competing is what we want to do, so that’s the main thing.”

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Last year, after throwing six shutout innings against the Nationals on Opening Day, deGrom went on to post a 2.43 ERA with a league-leading 255 strikeouts in 204 innings. He endured a rough three-game stretch in April as he tried to repeat his 2018 dominance (1.70 ERA), but rebounded in plenty of time to come out on top.

Though deGrom will be hard-pressed not to be reminded often about his chase to become just the third pitcher to win at least three straight Cy Youngs, he has a plan to stay focused.

“Knowing what I did last year, I was dwelling on kind of the year before — just knowing that didn’t help me much last year in those three starts,” deGrom said. “As long I can look myself in the mirror after the game and say I gave 100 percent and not dwell on what happened in the past, then I feel like I’ll like where I’ll be at.”