Jacob deGrom 2018 Regular Season

Statistics (in 188 innings pitched):

ERA: 1.68

WHIP: 0.96

WAR: 8.2

Record: 8-8

Walks: 42

Strikeouts: 230

Earned Runs: 35

Quality Start %: 0.86

As the 2018 MLB season begins to wind down, Cy Young candidates look to solidify their cases for the prestigious pitching award.  This year, the National League seems to have a few frontrunners in the mix.  A compelling argument can be made for New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola but, ultimately, deGrom’s stellar statistics and unmatched consistency prove that he deserves to be the 2018 NL Cy Young winner.

deGrom’s numbers are incredible, and not just compared to other National League pitchers. In fact, the Mets’ ace currently leads the MLB in ERA with an astounding 1.68 earned runs per start. Assuming that this statistic holds through the remainder of the season, deGrom will have the fifth lowest single season ERA of any National League Cy Young winner, and the lowest of any Cy Young-winning starter since Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux posted 1.56 in 1994.

ERA is not the problem, as deGrom’s is about 0.7 better than both Nola’s (2.29) and Scherzer’s (2.31). The one major statistic that analysts love to point to against deGrom is record. deGrom is currently 8-8, while Scherzer and Nola have won at least twice as many games, with 17 wins and 16 wins, respectively. That said, deGrom has given up the fewest runs of any pitcher.

Call it a curse or a stroke of bad luck, but somehow the Mets give deGrom an unbelievably small amount of run support whenever he starts for them.

Normally, a pitcher with an ERA that low should win almost every game.  However, this is simply not the case for deGrom, as he is basically forced to face every opponent alone, without any help from the walking meme that is the Mets’ lineup. Scherzer, who seems to be deGrom’s top competition for NL Cy Young, has a run support average (per start) of 5.03, good for fifth in the

National League.

Meanwhile, deGrom ranks second lowest in the NL among qualified starters with a run support average of just 3.57 runs per start. Add to that the fact that deGrom has contributed six total runs (5 RBIs and 1 run) in 28 games this season, and his multifaceted value to the Mets becomes abundantly clear. Not only does deGrom shut down so many of the batters that he faces, but he also provides much-needed run support for himself.

The Cy Young award is supposed to be given to the best pitcher, and deGrom is in the top five NL pitchers in nearly every relevant pitching statistic. His MLB-best ERA, which is arguably the most important statistic to judge the effectiveness of a starting pitcher, makes up for his 8-8 record, and his other stats are equal to, if not better than, previous Cy Young winners.

deGrom gets the job done game after game. His body of work, paired with his unmatched dominance on the mound, makes him hard to vote against.

Therefore, I truly believe that deGrom has earned his place with the likes of Tom Seaver, Doc Gooden and R.A. Dickey. For this reason, he deserves to become the Mets’ fourth Cy Young winner this season.

This is a sports opinion piece.

Contact Ethan Marchetti at [email protected].