Jacob deGrom wins the NL Cy Young award for the second consecutive year

Seemingly coming out of nowhere in 2014 as a replacement pitcher against the Yankees, Jacob deGrom has turned into one of the best pitchers in baseball today. The former infielder proved it this season and was rewarded with his second consecutive NL Cy Young award.

deGrom received 29 first-place votes out of 30, with the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu receiving the leftover vote. He now joins Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Greg Maddux and Sandy Koufax as the only back-to-back NL Cy Young winners. The 31-year-old is also the only Met to do so.

“Receiving this award again is an honor and I am so thankful for the Baseball Writers’ Association for their support,” deGrom said. “My goal is to put up zeroes every time I pitch. I’ll take that mindset into next season and try my best to help the Mets win as many games as I can.”

https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1194765133815406592?s=20

Last season, there was no doubt deGrom was going to win the award. With a 1.7o ERA, deGrom set single-season MLB records for quality starts (24) and starts with allowing three runs or fewer (29). This season he started off slow with a 3-5 record and a 3.98 ERA in nine starts. He ended up with an 11-8 record with a 2.43 ERA and an NL-high 255 strikeouts. While he didn’t have the “right” win-loss record, again, the numbers were there to convince the masses. deGrom also had a 0.97 WHIP, which is about 0.78 better than last year.

Not only was deGrom an All-Star for the second year in a row (third overall), but the pitcher secured his place with the Mets, signing a five-year extension. Now it is up to the team to secure deGrom with enough run support to continue his streak of dominance.

The award will be presented to deGrom during the 97th Annual New York Baseball Writers’ Dinner on January 25, 2020 inside the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. deGrom is the second Met to obtain an award this week, as Pete Alonso won the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year award.