New York Mets: Jacob deGrom’s Final Push for the Cy Young Award
Jacob deGrom finished off a terrific season by recording his 1,000th strikeout as a member of the New York Mets. This cements his case to win the 2018 National League Cy Young Award.
Starting pitcher for the New York Mets, Jacob deGrom, closed out his last masterpiece of 2018 by recording his 1,000th career strikeout. The righty reached this accomplishment in dramatic fashion.
deGrom was nearing the end of his leash last night, his pitch count was 100+ while working in the 8th inning. He had recorded the first two outs of the inning and had a 3-2 count on the second baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Ozzie Albies. On his last pitch of the season, deGrom struck out Albies, reaching the milestone.
With the strikeout, Jacob deGrom passed David Cone as the fastest Mets’ pitcher to record 1,000+ strikeouts (Metsblog.com). This was the perfect way for the dominant righty to close out his dominant season. Jacob deGrom will finish the season with a record of 10-9 and a 1.70 ERA over 217 innings pitched. deGrom’s 269 K’s only trail Max Scherzer’s historic 300 K’s for the National League lead.
Via Metsblog.com, following the game, deGrom was asked if believes that he deserves the Cy Young Award.
“I guess. I mean, you’re going to have to ask who votes,” deGrom said. “I feel like I wish I had more wins like I said, but it is what it is. I feel like I put myself in a pretty good position.”
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This is a very humble answer. deGrom has put himself in a great position as he is seen as the front-runner for the award. Going into the final weekend of 2018, deGrom leads the NL in bWAR (10.3), bWAR for Pitchers (9.8), and ERA (1.70). He is also just barely behind Scherzer for strikeouts and for the best WHIP in the National League (.912).
Jacob deGrom’s 2018 clearly stands out from an analytical point of view. The righty leads the league in adjusted ERA+(219), FIP(1.98) and Win Probability Added(6.1). His closest competitors are Aaron Nola for ERA+ (170), Patrick Corbin for FIP (2.48) and Maz Scherzer for WPA (5)
Wins are the only mainstream statistic in which deGrom has not excelled. This has been widely discussed this season, but the Win is outdated, it does not accurately display a pitchers abilities. A pitcher can’t control his offense, the Win statistic is more of a team statistic than a measure of individual success. deGrom’s numbers do not deserve to be slighted because his team could not score him runs.
Next. What 4 runs would have meant for deGrom. dark
Last night was the perfect way for Jacob deGrom to finish a masterful season for the New York Mets. He has been fun to watch and I really hope he takes home the hardware to reward his historic season. I will be shocked if Jacob deGrom does not win the 2018 National League Cy Young Award.