In what has been a mostly miserable season for the Mets and their fans, we must take solace in the few bright spots. One such bright spot has been Jacob deGrom who not only stayed healthy all season, but delivered Cy Young-caliber numbers.
Last night was another great outing for deGrom who pitched six solid innings against the potent Nationals line-up. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, striking out 11 and walking none. After the game, Mets Manager Terry Collins lauded deGrom and said he should be considered for a certain pitching award.
“Teams that have seen him several times throughout the summer, they talk about how good he is,” manager Terry Collins said. “There’s no reason why his name shouldn’t be in the mix somewhere, with 15 wins. Had we scored a few more runs for him, he certainly would have more than that.”
It is certainly true that if the Mets had scored more runs for deGrom, he’d have more than 15 wins. It’s also true that if you take out his two worst consecutive starts of his career, when he allowed 15 earned runs in 8.0 innings, he’d have a 2.98 ERA on the season. But the Mets didn’t score more runs for him, and he did give up 15 runs in those eight innings.
On the year, deGrom has gone 15-10 with a 3.53 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 1.187 WHIP. In 201.1 innings he has walked 59 and struck out 239. Taking his numbers into account, let’s take a look at how they stack up against other National League Cy Young candidates.
- Clayton Kershaw (LAD): 18-4, 26 GS, 171.0 IP, 2.21 ERA, 200 Ks
- Max Scherzer (WAS): 16-6, 30 GS, 197.1 IP, 2.55 ERA, 263 Ks
- Gio Gonzalez (WAS): 15-7, 30 GS, 191.2 IP, 2.68 ERA, 179 Ks
- Stephen Strasburg (WAS): 14-4, 27 GS, 167.2 IP, 2.68 ERA, 196 Ks
- Zack Greinke (ARI): 17-6, 31 GS, 198.1 IP, 3.18 ERA, 211 Ks
- Alex Wood (LAD): 15-3, 24 GS (26 G), 146.1 IP, 2.71 ERA, 150 Ks
- Robbie Ray (ARI): 14-5, 26 GS, 155.1 IP, 2.95 ERA, 212 Ks
- Kenley Jansen (LAD): 5-0, 63 G, 40 SV, 66.0 IP, 1.36 ERA, 105 Ks
- Wade Davis (CHC): 4-2, 57 G, 32 SV, 56.2 IP, 2.38 ERA, 76 Ks
- Corey Knebel (MIL): 1-4, 73 G, 37 SV, 73.0 IP, 1.60 ERA, 121 Ks
As much as I’d love to support deGrom’s chances to win, there are too many other great performances for him to compete with. Looking at his competition, it would be impossible for him to win and would even be borderline for him to be in the conversation at all. The biggest thing he has going for him is that with everyone likely to get at least one more start, he has all but locked up having the second most strikeouts in the National League behind Max Scherzer.
So when Terry Collins says, “There’s no reason why his name shouldn’t be in the mix somewhere,” I have to respectfully say: Yes, there is. A lot of pitchers pitched better than him this season. Yes, all the players listed above are on much better teams than the Mets, but deGrom’s numbers aren’t good enough to make up the difference. Maybe in 2018, but not this season.
