Mets ace Jacob deGrom is making a strong push for his third straight National League Cy Young Award, but the Cubs Yu Darvish has been lights out and Arizona rookie Zac Gallen has impressed.
Let’s take a look at how the race is right now with less than a month left in the season.
Jacob deGrom
Going for his third straight and recently he’s been untouchable. His 1.69 ERA ranks him second in the NL, his 0.875 WHIP is second as well, and his 70 strikeouts lead the league.
The Mets have bumped deGrom up to start on Friday, meaning he should get four more starts in this shortened season. He’s currently at 48 innings pitched, which is outside of the top 10.
It’s amazing that you think “how could Jacob deGrom get any better”, but his ERA, WHIP, H/9, and K/9 are all career bests.
Yu Darvish
Despite deGrom being the reigning champ, Darvish looks like the front-runner right now. His 1.44 ERA leads the league, as does his 7.85 K/BB and his 2.2 WPA. His 2.6 bWAR ranks third in the league and that ranks him ahead of deGrom’s 1.8 by a significant margin for a short season.
The right-handed is right behind deGrom with his 0.88 WHIP and his 2.02 FIP is tied with deGrom for the league’s best.
Darvish is scheduled to pitch tonight against the Reds and another 2020 Cy Young hopeful in Trevor Bauer.
Trevor Bauer
The right-hander has two complete game shutouts this season, the rest of the National League has one. Though, he has a 4.08 ERA in his last three starts and that type of run in short season could be a killer.
Overall, he leads the NL with his 0.864 WHIP and 5.1 H/9 while his 2.05 ERA is fourth. He has also been the NL’s second best strikeout pitcher (behind deGrom0 with 12.5 strikeouts per nine nine innings.
As mentioned above, he will take on Darvish in Chicago tonight.
Max Fried
The youngster looked to be a sure finalist before the Wednesday announcement that he was going on the injured list with a left side muscle spasm. The Braves are hopeful it will be a short stint, but missing only one start could certainly hurt his chances.
The left-hander is leading all NL pitchers with his 2.8 bWAR and FanGraphs’ WAR calculation has him third behind Darvish (2.1) and deGrom (2.0). His 1.98 ERA puts him third in the league behind the two previously mentioned pitchers.
The 26-year-old is not in the top 10 with his strikeouts or limiting walks, but his 1.06 WHIP ranks eighth.
Zack Wheeler
Skip this part, Brody.
The former Met has been one of the best pitchers in the NL this season with his 2.4 bWAR ranking fourth behind Gallen, Darvish, and Fried. His 2.47 ERA is good for eighth and his 1.10 WHIP is 10th.
Wheeler has pitched 51 innings placing him fifth in the league, but oddly he has only 36 strikeouts. A big reason for Wheeler’s success in 2020 has been limiting walks at an elite level, his 1.59 BB/9 is fourth in the league.
The Philles haven’t announced their starters past Wednesday, and Wheeler last pitched on Monday against the Mets.
Zac Gallen
Pretty clearly the lesser known name of the entire group, but the 25-year-old is second among NL pitchers with his 2.6 bWAR and that number trails only the injured Fried.
The Diamondback rookie has a 2.29 ERA (7th), 0.98 WHIP (7th), and his tied for second with 60 innings pitched.
Gallen just made his worst start of the season on Monday night when he allowed four runs in five innings against the Giants.
Others to Watch
Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer ranks fifth in the NL with 2.1 bWAR, but his 3.40 ERA in not in the top 10 and neither is his 1.33 WHIP.
Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola has a 2.74 ERA and his 1.9 bWAR is tied for sixth in the NL. Also ranks 5th with 12.22 K/9 and 6th with 0.95 WHIP.
The Padres have two pitchers in the top 10 in ERA, Kyle Davies is 5th at 2.23 and Dinelson Lamet is right behind him at 2.24. Lamet is also top 10 in bWAR (10th), WHIP (4th), and K/9.
The Rockies have two pitchers in the top 10 in bWAR, lefty Kyle Freeland is tied for 6th at 1.9 and right-hander Antonio Senzatela is tied for 9th at 1.7.
