By WFAN.com
2018 was a season to forget for the New York Mets. There weren't many highlights as the team finished 77-85 and didn't come close to making the playoffs, but on Wednesday one of their premier players was deservedly recognized as the best pitcher in the National League.
Jacob deGrom was named as the winner of the 2018 NL Cy Young award for his outstanding performances on the mound this season. DeGrom started 32 games and finished his incredible campaign with a 1.70 ERA, 260 strikeouts and a 10-9 record.
The Mets' righty was expected to win, and he won in a landslide by taking 29 out of 30 available first-place votes. Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals received the only other first-place vote and finished second in the voting ahead of Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Aaron Nola.
"It's truly an honor, [I'm] kind of speechless honestly," said deGrom on MLB Network after being informed of his victory.
There was a lot of discussion about whether his record would put-off the voters, but apparently enough members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America were willing to dismiss that as a result of being on such a poor team. DeGrom received historically bad levels of run support from his lineup this season. He did his best to carry the Mets on his back when he took the mound, but on some nights even his herculean efforts weren't enough to lift a poor team to victory.
DeGrom spoke during the award show about his mentality during a frustrating season.
"My thought process was 'Hey take the ball every fifth day and continue to try to put this team in a position to win, and control what you can control."
The two-time all-star is the first Mets pitcher to win the Cy Young since R.A. Dickey in 2012. The 30-year-old becomes the fourth player in franchise history to claim the award; Dwight Gooden did it in 1985, and Hall-Of-Famer Tom Seaver won it three times in 1969, 1973 and 1975.
DeGrom had previously finished seventh in the Cy Young voting in 2015 and eighth in 2017.
Brodie Van Wagenen is the new Mets general manager, and one of his first big decisions on the job will be whether the team signs deGrom to a contract extension or starts to shop him around the league. Van Wagenen recently said he "would love to try and keep him," but as of yet nothing has been proposed to deGrom.
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Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays took home the Cy Young in the American League. He beat out Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for the award.
