Jacob deGrom’s quest for a third consecutive National League Cy Young Award officially came to an end on Wednesday, when he finished third in the balloting behind winner Trevor Bauer and Yu Darvish.
Had deGrom won, he would have joined Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in history to win three consecutive Cy Young Awards. Instead, he remains one of 11 to win two in a row.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, deGrom was arguably the NL Cy Young favorite. But with the Reds in a pennant push, Bauer delivered his finest start of the year, striking out 12 Brewers over eight innings of one-run ball. Three days later, deGrom proved relatively mortal in allowing three runs to the Nationals.
deGrom finished with a 2.38 ERA and 104 strikeouts, while Bauer established himself as the favorite with a league-leading 1.73 ERA and 100 whiffs. The Cubs’ Darvish posted a 2.01 ERA with 93 strikeouts.
For deGrom, it was a shade off of the level that defined him from 2018-19, when he went a combined 21-17 with a 2.05 ERA and 524 strikeouts to win near-unanimous consecutive Cy Young Awards. On each occasion, deGrom pulled away from the pack with a dominant September.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].