New York Mets: How Jacob deGrom’s 2019 season will go based recent NL Cy Young winners
New York Mets star Jacob deGrom is coming off a Cy Young winning 2018 season that will be tough to be topped. However, history is on his side to still have a stellar 2019 season.
The New York Mets might have multiple ‘pitchers of the future’ on their roster but perhaps none better than Jacob deGrom.
Last season, deGrom had one of the best seasons ever in general. As as the Cy Young winner is prepared to go out and defend his crown, he has perhaps the best thing on his side. History. deGrom has history on his side.
For starters, deGrom’s career has been a relatively normal trajectory. While he has not necessarily gotten statistically better each season, he won both the rookie of the year and the Cy Young award a few seasons later.
Since his debut in 2014, deGrom has pitched at least 140 innings in each of his seasons and has had at least 140 strikeouts as well. His highest ERA is 3.53 while his lowest is last year’s 1.70. He hasn’t always had the dominant seasons, but still has been the Mets best pitcher the last two seasons. He has been consistent.
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While we already know what we have in deGrom, in the simplest form, a true ace. But, his career was changed by winning the Cy Young. By winning the Cy Young, he has set the highest possible standard for himself. A standard he should have no problem meeting based on history alone.
I went through and looked at the last four-NL Cy Young award winners and looked at how their season went the year after winning the award. This is what gave me the idea the deGrom will likely be one of the better pitchers in the NL again and there is even less reason to doubt.
While a sub 2.0 ERA is unlikely again, there is still a solid chance he at least has a season that is similar to his 2018 campaign, even if he doesn’t win the Cy Young again which is not the only measurement for being a great pitcher.
Let’s start by talking about the first NL Cy Young winner on this list who followed up a Cy Young Year with another great year.