3 best Jacob deGrom memories as a New York Met

Jacob deGrom memories #1: Back-to-back Cy Youngs

Jacob deGrom won back-to-back Cy Youngs in 2018 and 2019, the most dominant run of pitching in recent memory. 

Over those two seasons, the righty made 64 starts and pitched 421 innings. He allowed just 306 hits, 96 earned runs, 29 homers, 90 walks, and struck out 524 batters. His ERA was 2.05, his FIP was 2.32, his WHIP was 0.941, and his ERA+ was an absurd 190. His ratios are crazy too, with a K/BB ratio of 5.82, an H9 of 6.5, a HR/9 of 0.6, a BB/9 of 1.9, and a K/9 of 11.2.

Now let’s break it down by season. In 2018, he led baseball with a 1.70 ERA, 1.98 FIP, 0.4 HR/9, and 218 ERA+. He tossed 217 innings and struck out 269 batters. On top of winning the Cy Young, he finished 5th in the MVP voting with 29 first place votes (Max Scherzer got the other one on the Nationals). He was truly deGrominant.

In 2019, he had a 2.43 ERA, 2.67 FIP, and 169 ERA+. He led the NL with 255 strikeouts in 204 innings. He finished 10th in the MVP voting as well.

He nearly made it three consecutive Cy Youngs in the pandemic shortened 2020. He finished 3rd in the voting, trailing Spider Tack aficionado Trevor Bauer, as well as Cubs ace Yu Darvish. deGrom led the NL in strikeouts (104) and K/9 (13.8). 

deGrom was on track to win again in 2021 before getting hurt. He had 1.08 ERA through 15 starts, as well as 146 strikeouts through 92 innings pitched, good for a 14.3 K/9. He only walked 11 batters, good for a 13.27 K/BB. He still finished 9th in Cy Young voting, even though he missed more than half of the season.

I guess the point to all of this is that Jacob deGrom is an insanely talented pitcher who will be missed in Queens. Seeing him in a Rangers uniform just doesn’t look right, and it won’t for some time. My hope is that when his career is over, he goes into the Hall of Fame with a Mets logo on his cap.