Can Jacob deGrom Win MVP?
The rise of the Mets ace starting pitcher Jacob deGrom has been remarkable. Nearly unheard of.
Ever since deGrom has made his Major League debut dating back to 2014, he has been pitching consistently at a higher level. Generally, when you start to get a little older you may begin to fade out of your prime, but that is not the case for this man. Jacob deGrom seems to only be getting better with age. Heck, this dude is throwing harder each and every year it feels like. Consistently lighting up the radar gun at 100+ miles per hour, he seems nearly unhittable.
Jacob deGrom’s first All-Star appearance came in 2015, his second year in the league. Many people knew that he would be destined to be a good pitcher at that time. The only question was how good can this guy be? Again, we knew he was destined to be good, but to be destined for greatness is another level that only very few in history could ever meet.
Nearly with ease, deGrom would win back to back Cy Youngs in 2018 and 2019. Clearly, no one on this planet right now is better at pitching than Jacob deGrom. Not Gerrit Cole, not Trevor Bauer, not Shane Bieber. Nobody is better than deGrom.
After nearly winning a third Cy Young in a row with a shortened season, what else is there for the hard-throwing right-hander based out of Florida to do? He is a three-time All-Star, two-time All-MLB First Team, two-time Cy Young winner, NL Rookie of the Year and currently owns a career ERA at an astonishing 2.55. What award am I missing that he has not accomplished yet? That award that is somewhat looming over him is winning the MVP of his respective league.
Generally, pitchers do not win the MVP of their league. It has happened before with the most recent being Justin Verlander in 2011, but it is that rare of an accomplishment that people generally would never predict for a pitcher to get the award. At this given moment though, deGrom is definitely in the discussion and if he can keep playing at the rate he is playing at, he has a reasonable shot at it compared to any other position player in the National League. If you noticed in the last sentence, I said deGrom is playing at a high rate, not “pitching” but “playing”.
He is a pitcher so why not just say pitching?
Well, deGrom is not only the best pitcher in the world right now, but offensively he is having a great start to the season. In 13 at-bats this season, deGrom is 6 for 13 which is good for a .462 batting average. In those 13 at-bats, he also has collected a double and two RBIs to his name.
Once again, deGrom currently is leading in strikeouts with 59, which is good for a tie of most in history after five starts in the season with Nolan Ryan. He also is currently leading the MLB in ERA with a nearly impractical number of 0.51. deGrom doesn’t even need to pitch this good to win the Cy Young, he is unfair to face at this point with the level he is playing at. If he can pitch even half as good as he is right now and keep hitting decently throughout the season, then you might be looking at a future MVP who is playing at maybe the highest level we have ever seen anyone play at.
Unbelievable.