By Michelle Ioannou
You don’t need to tell Mets fans that Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in the National League, but it looks like the Major League Baseball Players Association wants to do exactly that.
According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, deGrom is a finalist to win the MLBPA Players’ Choice Award for National League Outstanding Pitcher. This award, as you can tell from the name, is one that is voted on by other players in the game. The other finalists up for this award are Hyun-Jin Ryu and Mike Soroka.
In terms of ERA, the three are about even – deGrom posted a 2.43 ERA, Ryu a 2.32, and Soroka a 2.69. But deGrom shines ahead in terms of his 7.9 WAR (5.3 and 5.6 for Ryu and Soroka, respectively) and his 0.971 WHIP (1.007 and 1.111 for Ryu and Soroka, respectively).
Plus, this is an award that deGrom’s peers are voting on. There is more to the vote than just number.
This is not the only award that deGrom and Ryu are both up for. They are strong contenders for this year’s National League Cy Young Award as well. But let’s not forget, Ryu said he believes deGrom deserves it. Maybe he (and hopefully lots of his peers) feel the same way about deGrom winning this award as well. DeGrom deserves both after having yet another historic season.
