Monday morning the Athletic unveiled their 2018 Persons of the Year in each market. For New York, Mets starter and 2018 Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom took home the honors.
Tim Britton writes about the daily dedication deGrom put into his craft, and discusses how the “lightly recruited shortstop became a ninth-round pick in the major leagues, and how that ninth-round pick became the best pitcher in baseball last season.”
“With his team stumbling around him, deGrom offered reason to watch every five days and to be proud that this was your team. He justified your caring, and really, that’s the most we should ask from our athletes,” Britton said.
Britton took a look at all 32 of deGrom’s starts from the 2018 season and isolated one moment. He observed deGrom’s “process of minor improvement, that perseverance through struggle, and that victory over obstacles.”
He attributes a ton of deGrom’s success to his use of his fastball’s up and in, slider’s to both sides of the plate, and changeup’s glove side and away, which former Mets lefty Jerry Blevins explained as a near impossible pitch to throw.
“I don’t even practice it, because it’s too hard to consistently do. There’s too small a margin of error, I don’t even know how that becomes a part of your repertoire. It’s crazy,” Blevins told reporters.
And as Mets catcher Travis dArnaud told reporters after deGrom’s second start of the season on April 5 against the Nationals, he had “such a bulldog mentality. He just believes in his stuff so much that he knows he can get out of any situation.”
During his magical 2018 season, deGrom went 10-9 with a 1.71 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 269 strikeouts in 217 innings.
You can check out the rest of Britton’s in-depth analysis on all 32 of deGrom’s starts for the 2018 season here, and you can find the rest of the winners for the Athletic’s 2018 Person of the Year here.
