I still will be surprised if deGrom wins the Cy Young. There are just too many neanderthals out there voting who cling to the idiocy that W/L record means something. I think people have appreciated the surprising aspect of his record, but some will ultimately hold it against him, and as a result he'll probably finish second. And yes, I know about Felix Hernandez, but the fact is that since Hernandez won the Cy 11 of the 14 winners have led their league in wins. I think the pushback now from so-called "traditionalists" will be even bigger than it was in 2010 because of disgruntlement with how starters and relievers are being used across MLB. The best thing deGrom has going for him is that the Scherzer will be hurt by the Nats once again being a big disappointment (this is also idiotic, but that doesn't mean it won't happen). Unfortunately, by the same token, if the Phillies stay in contention Nola will benefit from that. I think deGrom needs to end up with 14 wins or so to win it, which will be a real challenge with the Mets' lineup, and it will be a help to him if the Braves end up winning the division reasonably easily.
Yeah, deGrom should win it, even though morons voting will probably not vote for him. W/L record should not mean anything as he has no control over that. It should be ERA, strikeouts vs walks, HRs allowed and hit %. IMO, they should do away with pitcher wins/losses as a stat because that's much more of a team stat, not a pitcher stat. If your team is an offensive juggernaut, that doesn't mean your pitching is good just because they get more wins. During the game yesterday they compared deGrom to Scherzer (IIRC it was him) and brought up an interesting stat that Scherzer has given up more runs in his losses, than deGrom has all season. Pretty bad ass.
Daniel Murphy traded to the Cubs. I was so looking forward to him embarrassing us in the upcoming games. There is nothing worst in sports then miss opportunities. The Nationals blew it for themselves when they shut Stephen Strasburg down in 2012.
I happen to agree, but the Mets have been vilified for not doing that with Harvey in 2015. The Nats' problems go way deeper than not using Strasburg in the postseason that year - they are the poster boys for underachievement.
DeGrom should win the Cy Young. It’s a pitching award and he deserves it. Mets reason for not bringing up peter alonso is such BS. Everyone knows it a service time issue. Don’t insult people's intelligence.
Apparently a bunch of people calling in to the Michael Kay show ragged on Wright for crying in the news conference. Which just goes to show that there are a lot of crappy people in the world.
I'm a weirdo. As much as I like the Mets and David Wright, I don't want the number retired. Teams can honor the number by holding it back for the right person. I'd like to see another top player wear 5 again. There are only so many numbers. If the world doesn't blow up, we'll run out of them. The Yankees have gone way overboard with that. While the Mets could only be so lucky to have that many great players, I like the fact that they only do it for Hall of Famers. Wright should not be an exception. Maybe in the future teams can outline the honored numbers with gold trim or something. I'm "pro" numbers. Save the numbers. Numbers on uniforms has only been in fashion for a little less than 100 years, In another hundred year the Yankees will have to have triple-digit players, or someone will be wearing #3a
The fact that the Yankees have gone overboard (as everyone knows) is not a reason to ignore a highly deserving player. In my opinion retiring numbers isn't about an objective assessment of where a player stands relative to everyone who has played the game - that's what the Hall of Fame is for. It's to honor and acknowledge people who have had a fundamental and positive effect on the course of the franchise. Wright is first or second in team history in virtually every important career offensive statistic (he's #3 in career batting average), and he also earned two Gold Gloves, so just based on what happened on the field the honor is more than appropriate. But perhaps even more importantly, he was the face of the franchise for more than a decade, the team captain and leader, who handled everything that happened on and off the field with the utmost dignity and class. The only thing that mattered to him was what was best for the team, since (as he put it in his press conference yesterday) he truly bled blue and orange. Putting his number up on the wall sends the very clear message to fans and players that that kind of commitment and devotion to excellence is what every player can and should aspire to, but only few truly achieve. I think a far better analogy to use than the Yankees is the Islanders. Of course they retired the numbers of Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, and Billy Smith - they were Hall of Fame players, at least three of whom (Potvin, Trottier, and Bossy) were among the very best who ever played the game. The correspondence with Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza is obvious. But they also retired the number of Bobby Nystrom, who was in many ways the heart and soul of the franchise for more than a dozen years. I have never heard any Islanders fan even hint at the notion that it was a mistake to retire his number, because it overwhelmingly was not. In my view Wright deserves the same exact treatment.
Flores out for the season with early onset arthritis in both knees. Have to think that could be the end of his career.
So Matt Harvey says he's open to signing as a free agent with any team other than one. I'm not sure what's funnier - that he thinks he's going to have so many offers, or that he thinks there's even the slightest consideration that the Mets would want the clown who had the 5.94 ERA and 1.587 WHIP in the last 2 1/2 years he was on the team.
deGrom finishes up with 8 IP, 2 singles, 0 BBs, 0 runs, 10 Ks, finishes with a 1.70 ERA, 269 Ks in 217 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 10-9 record. I hate to get my hopes up, but reaching double digits in wins may have been enough to convince enough voters that one of the best half-dozen seasons in the last 50 years is worthy of the Cy. The fact that Scherzer (4.38 ERA in his last six starts) and Nola (4.60 ERA in his last five starts) both had crappy Septembers really should make this a trivially easy decision.
Sub 2.00 ERA, 250+ Ks, < 50 BBs in history: Christy Mathewson (1908), Pedro Martinez (2000), Jacob deGrom (2018).
And one other thing: if the Mets don't sign him to a long-term extension this offseason the Wilpons should drawn and quartered.
Amid all of the talk about deGrom another story has been mostly under the radar - Zach Wheeler is a very viable candidate for Comeback Player of the Year. After a good start to his career in 2013-2014, he missed two seasons with Tommy John and had a bad third one in 2015-2017, but this year has a 3.31 ERA, 1.124 WHIP, 8.8 K/9IP, and 3.25 K/BB ratio (he's 12-7 also, but we all know that's meaningless, since if he won 12 games deGrom should have won 25). Pretty much the definition of a comeback player.
