Mets: If this was a winning team, Jacob deGrom could be MVP

The Mets entered Monday with a 54-69 record. If the team didn’t magically deflate, Jacob deGrom would have a shot at winning the MVP award.

It’s rare to see a pitcher win the MVP award, but it’s done twice in the last seven seasons. Clayton Kershaw won it in 2014 and Justin Verlander won it in 2011.

In 2014, Kershaw had a fantastic season. He went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA. He recorded 239 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.857, and an ERA+ of 197. At the time, his ERA, ERA+, and K/9 were career bests.

The 2011 Justin Verlander was just as good a pitcher. His record was 24-5 and his ERA was 2.40. That year he recorded 250 strikeouts, a 0.92 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 172.

The 2014 Dodgers went 94-68 while the 2011 Tigers went 95-67.

Jacob deGrom doesn’t have the same win-loss record as those two legends, but if the New York Mets had a winning record, there would be no doubt that he would have been the biggest reason for it.

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For all we know, if the Mets offense was a little bit better, Jake could have been more like 12-3 now instead of 8-7. Right now Jakes biggest strengths are his ERA and strikeouts. In fact, both are either on par with what Kershaw and Verlander have done or better.

After 25 starts, Jakes ERA is 1.71 and unless he crashes, it looks like he will finish the season with an ERA below 2. He already has 204 strikeouts and his K/9 is 10.9. Kershaw only had one season with a K/9 higher than 10.9, and it was not 2014.

Entering this season, Verlander’s career best K/9 was 10.1. Jake should easily get seven more starts and it’s entirely possible for him to reach well beyond 250 strikeouts which would not only be his career best, but on par with some of Kershaw and Verlander’s best seasons.

Now let’s take a look at Jakes ERA+. It’s miles ahead of where Kershaw and Verlander were, and if he keeps it within a close range, it could become one of the best ERA+’s ever. Right now it stands at 219.

The 2016 Kershaw, in his shortest season in a decade, posted an ERA+ of 237. Other than that, neither Kershaw nor Verlander posted at least 200 in a season. If the season ended right now, Jake would have one of the 21 highest single-season totals for ERA+.

Of the 19 other completed seasons with a 219 or higher ERA, nearly half of them belong to Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, and Dwight Gooden.

It’s also possible that his ERA+ can go up as well. If it goes up by just a few points, he could have one of the 15 best ERA+ seasons ever.

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It’s possible that Jake can finish the season with an ERA below 1.80 or even 1.70 and more than 250 strikeouts. If the Mets were playing good baseball all season, Jake would have been making a case for not just the Cy Young award but MVP as well.