The (obvious) case for Jacob deGrom to win the NL Cy Young award

It won’t be long until the Cy Young award winners are announced. The debate to determine who is superior is at an all-time high. While the MVP debate on both sides are fun to talk about at the work water cooler, it is the NL Cy Young race that has caused the most heated discussions.

Right now, there are three legitimate candidates for the award: Aaron Nola of the Phillies, Max Scherzer of the Nationals, and, of course, the Mets’ Jacob deGrom. Each of these candidates have the credentials to back their cases up, but only one can walk away the winner. Even with a team as disappointing as the Mets, deGrom has everything he needs in order to unanimously grab the award.

Jacob deGrom ended the year with an NL-best 1.70 ERA. He also had a career-high 269 strikeouts in 217 innings. Last season, his FIP was 3.50. This season? 1.98, one of the lowest in the league. What may hold him back is the 10-9 record he produced for an offensively-challenged Mets team. They only averaged about 3.5 runs each time he was on the mound.  There are pitchers who aren’t part of the elite that have won more games than deGrom. One thing they don’t have, however? His consistency.

This list of players & seasons are scary good.

Starting pitchers who have posted a season with a FIP no greater than 2.00 & a bWAR of 9.5 or better since 1960:

Sandy Koufax, ‘63
Bob Gibson, ‘68
Tom Seaver, ‘71
Pedro Martinez, ‘99

& Jacob deGrom, ‘18@Mets @MetsMerized #Mets pic.twitter.com/L7cyz6gEGW

— Mathew Brownstein (@MBrownstein89) November 14, 2018

Jake's ERA was *historically* good this season pic.twitter.com/bjCeOO0VER

— SNY (@SNYtv) November 14, 2018

The Mets have had dominant pitchers on their team before, whether it was Tom Seaver or Doc Gooden. Even R.A. Dickey won a Cy Young while on the team. deGrom’s magical 2018 may be a wild story, but that is what is great about the game of baseball.

Yes, Nola won 17 games and Scherzer had over 300 strikeouts. The same rules can apply when talking about Felix Hernandez, who won the Cy Young in 2010 with a 13-12 record and a 2.27 ERA. He was second in the voting the year before, when he had 19 wins. He beat out David Price, Jon Lester and CC Sabathia. The latter of the three won 21 games, but it was the consistency of Felix’s play on a Mariners team that had a 61-101 record that won him the award.

After cutting his famous hair, there were those superstitious folk who believed deGrom’s magic was gone. Instead, he learned a new trick or two, cementing his legacy in one of the most dominant and puzzling campaigns in MLB history. Will he be rewarded for said campaign?

The Cy Young winners will be announced tonight at 6 p.m. ET, only on MLB Network.