New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom has won his second consecutive Cy Young Award. On Wednesday, deGrom won 29 of the 30 first-place votes to become the fifth back-to-back winner of the Cy Young Award since 2000. He joins Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who actually won four straight years from 1999-2002, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants in 2008 and 2009, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013 and 2014 and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals in 2016 and 2017.
deGrom only had a record of 11 wins and eight losses, with an earned run average of 2.43 and a WHIP of 0.97. However, he did lead the National League with 255 strikeouts. The only other pitcher with a first-place vote was Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It was no surprise that a Houston Astros pitcher won the Cy Young Award, but it could be considered a surprise that it was Justin Verlander and not Gerrit Cole. Verlander was chosen over Cole even though Cole had 326 strikeouts compared to Verlander’s 300. Verlander meanwhile had one more win than Cole as he had 21 victories compared to Cole’s 20. Verlander also led Major League Baseball with 223 innings pitched and an amazing WHIP of 0.80. Verlander’s earned run average was also a solid 2.58.
Verlander received 17 first-place votes compared to Cole’s 13 first-place votes. Verlander and Cole are quite comfortable financially at the moment. Verlander is set to make $33 million in 2020 and 2021 with the Astros, while Cole is an unrestricted free agent. At this time one franchise that is expected to give Cole a massive offer is the New York Yankees. deGrom is up for a huge pay raise next year. He is set to make $23 million in 2020 after making $7 million in 2019.
