Unofficial fan projectYoung Pitching and a Pennant
Jacob deGrom
Starting pitcher · Mets 2014–2022
The part fans remember
What the numbers leave out.
Nobody expected a former college shortstop to become the next great Mets ace. Then deGrom started throwing 100 mph, winning Cy Young Awards, and making one run feel like enough.
deGrom was a ninth-round draft pick and a former college shortstop, so nobody expected him to become the next great Mets ace. He reached the majors in 2014 with long hair, little hype, and an immediate ability to make major-league hitters uncomfortable. By the end of the year he was Rookie of the Year, and in 2015 he beat Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in the playoffs on the way to the pennant.
His best years were a strange mix of brilliance and frustration. In 2018, deGrom posted a 1.70 ERA while the team often failed to score for him, forcing voters to look past his 10–9 record and give him the Cy Young Award. He won it again in 2019. By 2021 he was throwing harder than ever and producing numbers that barely looked real, but injuries kept interrupting the show.
He left for Texas after 2022, which made the ending feel sudden and unfinished. Still, for nearly a decade, a deGrom start offered the cleanest version of pitching Mets fans had seen since Seaver: power, control, and the feeling that one run might be enough. The lack of team success around some of his best seasons only made fans value the performance more.
The honest version
The best stretch
From 2018 through 2020, deGrom pitched at a level that made normal measurements feel too small. He won consecutive Cy Young Awards, posted a 1.70 ERA in 2018 despite receiving almost no run support, and kept adding velocity as he grew older. His delivery looked easy, his command stayed sharp, and hitters often seemed defeated before the at-bat had time to develop. The only regular frustration was watching brilliant starts end without a Mets win.
The part that got messy
What made deGrom unusual was the path. He had been a college shortstop, underwent Tommy John surgery in the minors, and reached the majors without the hype that followed Harvey or Syndergaard. Then he became the best of them all. His win in the deciding game of the 2015 Division Series showed the toughness behind the calm face: without his best stuff early, he adjusted, survived, and carried the Mets into the next round.
Why fans still care
His final Mets years created mixed feelings. Short bursts of even greater dominance were repeatedly interrupted by injuries, and he eventually left for Texas. That ending prevents the story from feeling complete, but it does not reduce the peak. For several seasons, Mets fans planned their nights around his starts because they knew a simple ground ball or a single run could decide whether they had just watched a masterpiece.
A deGrom start became its own kind of Mets drama: he could be nearly perfect, the offense might score nothing, and one mistake could decide everything. By 2018 he was so dominant that wins and losses stopped being useful. Fans watched because any pitch could be 100 miles per hour on the corner—and because nobody wanted to miss the night he somehow became even better.
Signature Mets momentBack-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019.
The short list
The stuff worth remembering.
- 012014 NL Rookie of the Year
- 02Two Cy Young Awards
- 032015 National League champion