Mets' Jacob deGrom a Cy Young finalist
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Forty days removed from his last pitch of the season, Mets righthander Jacob deGrom formally moved one step closer to the NL Cy Young Award on Monday.
As an unofficial kickoff of sorts to its awards season, MLB and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the three finalists for each of the major honors, including NL Cy Young: deGrom, Washington’s Max Scherzer and Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola.
The winner will be announced at 6 p.m. Nov. 14.
Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar and second baseman Gleyber Torres joined Angels righthander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani as finalists for American League Rookie of the Year.
Although he received some votes, deGrom is not a finalist for NL MVP. That field is Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich, Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and Chicago’s Javier Baez.
The news of deGrom’s inclusion as a Cy Young finalist was a mere formality for the pitcher considered the favorite to win it. Among the league leaders — and often the outright leader — in most significant pitching statistics, deGrom was first in the majors in ERA (1.70) and FIP (1.98), second in the majors in innings (217), and is second in the NL in WHIP (0.91) and tied for first in Baseball Reference’s WAR (10). He held opponents to three runs or fewer in 29 consecutive starts and tossed 24 consecutive quality starts, both single-season major-league records.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young winner, and Nola, an All-Star for the first time in 2018, also had strong years but fell short when it came to the bottom line for individual pitchers: run prevention. Nola had a 2.37 ERA, Scherzer 2.53. Scherzer led the majors in innings (220 2/3) and strikeouts (300).
Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who until last week was deGrom’s agent, said at his introductory news conference, “Make no mistake, I believe Jacob deGrom is an incredible talent and I hope to keep him for a long time.
“Jacob deGrom clearly has established himself as the best pitcher in baseball,” Van Wagenen said. “Hopefully in a couple of weeks he’ll be rewarded with that trophy."