Which NL Pitcher Was the Most Dominant?

The CY Young award is one of the most prestigious awards a pitcher in professional baseball. It is granted to the top pitcher in both the American League and National League base on a combination of statistics like earned run average (the average number of runs given up per nine innings), strikeouts, etc.. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are the front-runners in this race. Jacob deGrom has looked like the definition of a CY Young winner all season. Both guys have been making professional hitters look like 5-year-olds in the batter’s box all season long, and his stats show what a dominant season he has had; well, every stat except for his win-loss record. Max Scherzer, on the other hand, doesn’t have an ERA quite as low as deGrom, but he has about 40 more strikeouts and a better win-loss record. In 31 games started he had 23 quality starts, a 1.77 ERA, and 259 strikeouts in 209 innings pitched, but only has 9-9 win-loss record to show for it. Scherzer has started 33 games this season, 2 complete games, and recorded 300 strikeouts in 220.2 innings pitched, with an 18-7 win-loss record. Both pitchers have had exceptionally great seasons, but if it were up to me deGrom would have to come out on top despite them being having equally impressive seasons.

Unfortunately, deGrom may get snubbed because of his team letting him down. When considering pitchers for the CY Young award, the win-loss record should not have a big impact on the decision of the voters, but for whatever ridiculous reason, it does. In 1981, Nolan Ryan, the greatest pitcher in MLB history, led the league in ERA with a mind-blowing 1.69 ERA; however, he still did not win the coveted award because he did not have as good of a win-loss record as he peers. It is completely unfair to not recognize a pitcher’s dominance over the course of a season because their teams were not able to provide the run support necessary to win the game. Over the course of the 31 starts that deGrom has pitched over the season, he has not allowed more than three runs in a game, and if the Mets would have only scored 2 runs in each game, deGrom’s win-loss record would now be 21-6. Just because a pitcher is on a lousy team, doesn’t mean he should be overlooked when it comes time to hand out awards, and if deGrom is overlooked because of his win-loss record, every member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that didn’t vote for him should be fired.

Jacob deGrom, Mets, New York Mets, New York, Baseball, Major League Baseball