MLB.com Lists Yankees' Gerrit Cole, Mets' Jacob deGrom As Leaders For Cy Young Award
(CBSNewYork)- We're a little over a quarter of the way through the Major League Baseball season and the story of the year has been pitching dominance across the league. In New York, the Yankees and Mets respective aces, Gerrit Cole and Jacob deGrom, have flashed their abilities yet again drawing praise from a panel of MLB.com voters. In a poll released on Thursday, Cole and deGrom were leading their respective league's Cy Young Award races.
For Cole, he earned 62 of the 80 possible first-place votes from the panel of experts the site polled. Through nine starts this season, the 30-year-old has posted a 2.03 ERA with 85 strikeouts and just 5(!) walks. His FIP (fielding independent picthing) rating of 1.62 leads the majors. After finishing in the Top 5 each of the last three seasons, could this finally be the year that he breaks through and earns his first Cy Young?
In the National League, though deGrom has made only one start this month due to tightness in his right side, he's been dazzling when on the mound this season. In six starts, he's allowed just three earned runs through 40 innings of work which is good for a 0.68 ERA. Opposing hitters have posted a .128/.170/.256 slash line against him this season. His performance earned him 73 of the 80 possible first place votes and if he had been fully healthy likely would have been the unanimous pick.
There's still plenty of time between now and the end of the season but the history of both players would indicate that it's likely they'll be hanging around this conversation throughout the year.