Jacob deGrom’s numbers suggest he could be breathing the air atop Mt. Everest this offseason, more rarified than even the Olympus blend entering his lungs these days.
Only 10 pitchers in MLB history have won consecutive Cy Young awards, and the Mets ace is a strong possibility to join that list in November, after the final vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has been tallied. Votes must be cast before the postseason begins next week.
DeGrom’s last start of the season is scheduled for Wednesday against the Marlins. His 6.9 bWAR and 6.7 fWAR, respectively, lead all NL pitchers, along with his strikeout total (248) and WHIP (0.99). DeGrom’s 2.51 ERA is second to the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.41).
“[DeGrom] has put himself in the driver’s seat and very well ahead of the others, with so few games left or so few starts left for the guys going against him,” manager Mickey Callaway said Monday. “He’s in control.”
DeGrom easily won the award last year and with a repeat would join an elite club of pitchers who received the award in consecutive years: Sandy Koufax, Denny McLain, Jim Palmer, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. Of that group, Koufax, Palmer, Martinez, Maddux and Johnson are enshrined in Cooperstown, and Kershaw and Scherzer will likely eventually join them.
“If you win one, it’s a good accomplishment,” Zack Wheeler said. “If you win two, it’s a great accomplishment, but if you win them back-to-back, that is something special. It’s not easy to do, especially these days with it being more hitter-friendly, I feel like. To do that in back-to-back seasons would be pretty special and he should be proud of himself.”
DeGrom had a historic season for the Mets in 2018, setting an MLB record with 25 consecutive quality starts while finishing with a 1.70 ERA. The right-hander had a sluggish April this season, but still has 24 starts allowing two earned runs or fewer, which leads the NL. His 18 starts of at least seven innings rank first in the major leagues.
“Two straight would be an unbelievable feat,” Noah Syndergaard said, referring to the Cy Young award. “It’s one thing to do it last year with the season he had, but to back it up with a second straight year is a real nice performance, especially because he had a rocky start, but he was able to really correct and make an adjustment and really flourish with the remainder of the season he had to work with.
“The second half he’s had was just an awesome spectacle and I wish him the very best with this last start and he will have my support for a second Cy Young award.”
Tom Seaver won three Cy Young awards for the Mets, but they were staggered: 1969, ’73 and ’75.
“[DeGrom] definitely concentrates on being the best and I think that is why he is so good,” Wheeler said. “He is able to lock it in every five days, and it’s not easy to lock it in every five days. Sometimes your mind is somewhere else or you could be having something else going on in your life. We’re people just like you, so to be able to lock it in every five days for two or three years, that is pretty impressive.”
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