Mets ace Jacob deGrom is in the midst of his best season and is on track to turn in one of the most remarkable years for a pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball...
Latest Feat
On July 7, deGrom became the second-fastest to 1,500 strikeouts in MLB history, only behind San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish.
The strikeout came in the top of the fourth inning, as Willy Adames of the Brewers went down for deGrom's fifth strikeout of the day.
Crazy Numbers
We would need a lot more space if we were to list all of the ridiculous deGrom numbers, so here's a sampling:
- DeGrom's 1.08 ERA is the lowest in baseball by roughly 3/4 of a run with one start remaining before the All-Star break
- The lowest ERA in the modern era entering the All-Star break is the 1.06 Bob Gibson had in 1968 for the St. Louis Cardinals. The last pitcher to enter an All-Star break with an ERA under 1.40 was Zack Greinke, who accomplished that feat with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015
- Going back to last season, deGrom has not allowed more than five hits in 20 consecutive starts, the second-longest streak ever (Tony Cingrani allowed no more than five in each of his first 22 career starts)
- DeGrom has allowed five base runners or fewer in all 15 of his starts this season. Excluding openers, no other starting pitcher has had more than nine starts in a row allowing five base runners or fewer
Stats and Pace
DeGrom is leading the majors in ERA (1.08), WHIP (0.54), H/9 (2.4), K/9 (13.3), OPP AVG (.126), and SO/W (13.27).
DeGrom is on pace to finish the season with 286 strikeouts in 179 innings. The Mets single-season record is 289, accomplished by Tom Seaver in 1971.
Cy Young Watch
DeGrom is the runaway favorite for the award and would almost certainly be a unanimous winner if the season ended today.
His closest competitors at the moment include Kevin Gausman of the San Francisco Giants (1.74 ERA, 0.80 WHIP), Brandon Woodruff of the Milwaukee Brewers (2.10 ERA, 0.78 WHIP), Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals (2.10 ERA, 0.85 WHIP), Trevor Rogers of the Miami Marlins (2.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP), and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies (2.05 ERA, 0.94 WHIP).
MVP Watch
The last pitcher to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season was Clayton Kershaw in 2014, and what deGrom is doing right now blows that season out of the water.
DeGrom would very likely be the National League MVP if the season ended today, but he could need a truly historic full season to hold off Fernando Tatis Jr., who entered play on July 2 hitting .300/.382/.688 with 27 homers in 69 games played.
It should be noted that while Tatis has been otherworldly on the offensive side of things, he has 18 errors and has been worth -4 DRS in 66 games at shortstop.