The New York Mets have become one of the best teams in MLB thanks in large part to their pitching. Edwin Diaz has been as lights out as they come as a close and Jacob deGrom has re-joined a staff that has been strong all season.

Although deGrom has been his usual dominant self, his pitch repertoire is a bit different. Mets manager Buck Showalter pointed out a key similarity with his two superstar hurlers. He said that deGrom and Diaz both utilize a fastball-slider combo to generate strikeouts and help New York win, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic.

“It’s effective because of the fastball,”  Showalter said of deGrom's slider, via The Athletic. “It’s kind of like [Diaz] in a lot of ways.”

A slider has always been a part of Jacob deGrom's arsenal but he has used it more frequently than ever this season. Through 29.1 innings this season, he throws it 44.3 percent of the time. He throws his fastball 48.1 percent of the time. Never before has deGrom's rates between his slider and fastball been so close. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is also throwing his changeup less.

Diaz, meanwhile, has always been a two-pitch hurler. He is also using his slider more often, throwing it 57.2 percent of the time, a career-high, while leaning on his fastball as a secondary pitch. Both he and deGrom throw their sliders with tons of velocity.

Jacob deGrom, Edwin Diaz and Max Scherzer are the three stars on the mound for the championship-hopeful Mets. The team is also loaded with great hitters, giving them plenty of talent as they pursue a World Series.