Ohtani, deGrom having historic seasons
Baseball’s annual AllStar break is days away. The front-runner for the Most Valuable Player award in each league is so clear, it’s tempting to call the races now. Only the health of Shohei Ohtani and Jacob deGrom can separate each man from his hardware.
We are witnessing not one, but two of the most historic seasons in baseball history.
Appreciating their seasons is not a challenge. Therein lies their beauty.
Ohtani will showcase the full range of his talents at the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game next week in Denver, when he will hit and pitch. On Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox, he clubbed his major league-leading 32nd home run of the season. On Tuesday, he lowered his earned-run average to 3.49 in his 13th start of the season for the Angels.
New York Mets ace deGrom is setting such an impossibly high standard for pitching, he was able to allow two solo home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday and still take the lowest ERA (1.08) into the break of any pitcher who made 10 starts since Bob Gibson in 1968. Gibson’s ERA was 1.06 at the break and 1.12 at year’s end – the benchmark season by which all subsequent starting pitchers have been judged.
Since anything can get lost in the glare of Ohtani’s stardom, let’s take a closer look at deGrom’s allaround talent. He has a .364 batting average. It’s a soft .364, if such a thing exists, with 11 of his 12 hits coming on singles. He also has six RBIs, which is only one fewer than the
Mets’ opening day third baseman, J.D. Davis (41 atbats). Two RBIs came in a game on June 11 in which the Mets beat the Padres, 3-2. That is the closest deGrom has come to singlehandedly beating a team this season.
Like Ohtani, deGrom is a Statcast darling. His fastball averaged 90 mph as a rookie and has somehow gained velocity every season. Now 33, deGrom is the hardest-throwing starting pitcher on the planet. (Average fastball speed: 95.9 mph.) Only one pitcher, Cleveland reliever Emanuel Clase, has thrown more baseballs 100 mph or faster this year than deGrom.
In a season famous for a league-wide crackdown on spin rate, deGrom is getting more spin out of his fastball than ever.
Unlike Ohtani, deGrom is a late bloomer. At age 22, he was a light-hitting shortstop for Stetson University, about to become a ninth-round draft choice by the Mets. At 26, he was a major league pitcher, ultimately the National League rookie of the year. At 27, deGrom started Game 2 of the World Series. The Mets haven’t returned to the playoffs since.
Just as it is sacrosanct to elevate Ohtani above Babe Ruth, one must handle the Bob Gibson comparisons delicately around deGrom. A lot can change between now and October. DeGrom has given himself a chance to set a standard in 2021 even higher than the almighty 1968 Gibson season.
So many pitchers dominated the so-called “year of the pitcher,” Gibson was not as masterful relative to his peers compared to deGrom. His ERA+ of 258 that season was, in effect, 158% above average. That’s only the 28thbest pitcher season of alltime according to Baseball Reference, reflecting the recent inclusion of Negro League seasons from 1920-48.
Pedro Martinez set the modern standard with a 291 ERA+ in 2000. DeGrom can blow past that benchmark, too. Entering Wednesday’s game against the Brewers, his ERA+ was an otherworldly 402.
For all of deGrom’s dominance, those who have followed the Angels closely know Ohtani takes over a game by himself more frequently, for the simple reason that he sometimes appears to be everywhere at once.
In the ninth inning last Friday against the Baltimore Orioles, Ohtani was on first base when he decided to steal second. The batter, Anthony Rendon, swung at the pitch and inadvertently tapped the helmet of Orioles catcher Pedro Severino as he followed through with his swing. Ohtani, who beat Severino’s throw to second base, was ordered back to first by virtue of interference. The element of surprise was dashed.
No matter. Ohtani stole second base again, this time getting a better jump than the first. Jared Walsh then dumped a single into shallow right field, and Ohtani sprinted home from second base with the winning run. Ohtani didn’t only beat deGrom in a foot race; his hometo-first time of 4.10 seconds is the fifth-fastest in all of baseball.
The Angels have won eight of Ohtani’s 13 starts as a pitcher. They scored a total of eight runs in the other five. That makes his 4-1 record somewhat deceiving; he’s pitched enough innings to qualify for a win in all but four starts. Take away his penultimate start last Wednesday against the Yankees, and Ohtani’s ERA for the season would be 2.58.
As a batter, Ohtani is on pace to hit 60 home runs. Even Ruth can’t claim a season of 30 home runs and more than two pitching appearances. In an era of specialization, Ohtani is on pace to set a standard for two-way play. That’s enough to make him the most talented allaround baseball player today, if not ever.
“We always romanticize the past,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said, asked Tuesday to compare Ohtani and Ruth, “and sometimes you miss what’s going on right in front of your very eyes.”
DeGrom finds his bragging rights in the possession of a singular skill — pitching — separated from the average major leaguer by more standard deviations than should be possible.
Both players should be appreciated duly.