In A Lackluster Year, Jacob deGrom Takes Home The Cy Young Award

By Jordan Long

The National League Cy Young Award winner was announced last night.  The finalists were Jacob deGrom, Aaron Nola, and Max Scherzer.  The award went to Jacob deGrom.  According to ESPN, deGrom said, “I want to thank the baseball writers for this honor.  I’m extremely humbled to win this award along with some other great former Mets such as Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and R.A. Dickey. I’d especially like to thank my teammates, coaching staff and my family.”  Does deGrom really deserve this award?

                DeGrom’s record wasn’t impressive with the Mets this season.  He ended with a 10-9 record, barely above .500.  DeGrom helped his team with strikeouts and ERA.  He located his pitches this year and batters couldn’t catch up to them, striking out 269, ranking 4^th in all of baseball. 

His ERA was the lowest in baseball. That was the reason he took home the Cy Young Award. Teams had a tough time scoring on him with an ERA of 1.70.  Looking at just his ERA he deserved this award.  Sure the wins weren’t there, but he kept his team in the game.  It wasn’t deGrom’s fault New York’s bullpen couldn’t keep the lead which usually gave him a no decision.

                Aaron Nola wasn’t as dominant in terms of ERA as deGrom.  His ERA was 2.37, ranking 4^th in all of baseball.  His record was better at 17-6. 

The difference between him and deGrom was home runs.  Nola allowed 17 home runs all season, a decent number.  DeGrom on the other hand gave up only 10.

Max Scherzer should have won this award. He had more wins than deGrom and Nola at 18.  His record at the end of the year was 18-7 and he even led the league in strikeouts with 300.  There was not a pitcher better in MLB this season than Scherzer when it came to picking his spots for pitches.  Hitters had a difficult time catching up to them.  Most of the time, they ended in strikeouts. 

The only downside to Scherzer was his home runs.  When he left a pitch over the middle of the plate it was gone for a home run, giving up 23.  This is probably why he didn’t win the Cy Young.

All of these pitchers were worthy of this award.  The only problem is their teams didn’t make it to the postseason.  It was not their fault the rest of the rotation didn’t do their part and the bullpen couldn’t keep leads in games. The offense wasn’t there enough for victories.  Voters had a difficult time deciding, but in the end deGrom’ stats made him the Cy Young Award winner.  Maybe next year, the pitcher that wins the Cy Young in the National League helps his team advance to the playoffs.