SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ After winning the National League Cy Young in 2018, Jacob deGrom followed up with a memorable season that showed his vulnerability in the voyage of a pitcher capable of overcoming adversity with the utmost dignity and strength.
DeGrom was crowned the NL Cy Young winner by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Wednesday after beating out finalists Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers and Max Scherzer of the Nationals.
He becomes the 11th pitcher in MLB history to win Cy Young honors in back-to-back seasons, and the first Met to win the award in consecutive years. DeGrom joins Tom Seaver as the only Mets pitchers to win multiple Cy Youngs (Seaver had three).
DeGrom finished the season with a 2.43 ERA across 204 innings and posted an 11-8 record in his sixth MLB season. Along the way, deGrom earned his second-consecutive All-Star Game nod and third of his career. He struck out an NL-leading 255 batters in 32 starts and posted a 0.97 WHIP.
The Cy Young conversation began with everything going deGrom's way. Would Brodie Van Wagenen _ deGrom's former agent turned GM _ do right by the Mets ace and reach a deal? He did _ deGrom signed a five-year, $137.5 million contract extension 24 hours before the regular season kicked off. Would deGrom pitch a masterful outing against the Nationals in his first-career Opening Day nod? He did _ the right-hander struck out 10 over six scoreless innings.
Things soon took a turn for the worse and, throughout it all, deGrom's sudden dip in dominance was jarring to watch unfold. In his third outing of the season _ and first home start _ deGrom gave up three homers (six earned runs) over four innings to the Minnesota Twins. It was just the beginning of a month-long slide that, at one point, featured a 4.85 ERA.
Eventually, on May 22 against the Nationals, something in him clicked. DeGrom decided enough was enough _ he had to figure out a way to put that putrid month behind him.
He led the majors with a 1.89 ERA from May 22 through the end of the season. In that span, deGrom went 8-3 across 23 starts with 188 strikeouts and 30 walks. His 188 punchouts and 152 innings during that five-plus month stretch both led the NL.
To top it all off, deGrom ended the season tossing 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including three straight outings of seven shutout innings. It stands as the longest season-ending scoreless streak in Mets franchise history. Like a workhorse with no burnout in sight, he went 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his five final September starts.
Most everyone dismissed deGrom's stumble to begin the year when he completed it leading the NL in strikeouts (255), starts allowing two earned runs or fewer (25), starts pitching seven or more innings (19), opponent OPS (.580) and opponent slugging (.323).
In the end, the only thing that stood taller than deGrom's 6-foot-4 frame was his fierce ambition to spar with adversity and conquer it in the course of 32 resilient starts.
