DeGrom, Snell are Cy Young winners
NEW YORK — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.
The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.
The American League’s pitching prize also reflected a change in voters’ values, with Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beating out past winners Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros and Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians for his first Cy Young. Snell pitched just 180 2/3 innings, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. Over full seasons, Snell is the second starter to win the award with fewer than 200 innings; 2014 NL winner Clayton Kershaw logged 198 1/3 that year.
“I definitely think the game has changed in that aspect,” deGrom said.
Said Snell: “I feel like it’s just turning more into quality of work and what did you accomplish in those innings. I think that’s just the way it’s going.”
DeGrom easily beat out Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer, who was seeking a third straight Cy Young and fourth overall. DeGrom received 29 first-place votes and 207 points from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Scherzer received the other first-place vote.
In his first season after having his distinctive long hair chopped off, deGrom cut down hitters from start to finish despite little help from teammates. He posted a 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the NL since Zack Greinke’s 1.66 mark in 2015. Yet the 30-yearold right-hander went 10-9, eclipsing the low bar among starters of 13 victories set by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and matched by the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez in 2010.
DeGrom allowed three or fewer runs in 29 consecutive starts to close the season, breaking Leslie “King” Cole’s 108-year-old record of 26 such outings. Yet the Mets were 11-18 in those games and 14-18 overall with deGrom on the mound.
“My thought process was, ‘Hey, take the ball every fifth day and continue to try to put this team in position to win and control what you can control,’” deGrom said. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell winds up during his team’s Sept. 29 game against the Toronto Blue Jays in St. Petersburg, Fla. Snell is this year’s American League Cy Young Award winner.
Hernandez’s Cy Young victory signaled a major shift from voters, who once prioritized pitcher wins. The push toward advanced analytics made deGrom’s candidacy possible, and by September there was little debate deGrom was worthy, even as the Mets regularly wasted his dominance.
Perhaps no pitcher had ever been such a hard-luck loser. New York averaged 3.5 runs in games started by deGrom, second only to Cole Hamels for worst support in the majors among qualified pitchers. During one stretch late in the season, the Mets totaled 10 runs over seven of deGrom’s outings, and four of those were driven in by the pitcher himself.
Snell got 17 first-place votes and 169 points to 13 first-place votes and 154 points for Verlander. Kluber had 71 points, followed by Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox and Houston’s Gerrit Cole.
Snell had a 1.89 ERA, thirdbest in the AL since the designated hitter was introduced, trailing only Ron Guidry (1.74) in 1978 and Pedro Martinez (1.74) in 2000. The 25-yearold pitcher had 33 1/3 fewer innings than Verlander, but his dominance was enough to sway the electorate.
Snell was the first player 25 or younger to win 21 games since Barry Zito in 2002. He is the second Rays pitcher to win the award, following David Price in 2012.