Jacob deGrom was dominant for the Mets yet again, pitching six complete innings while allowing no runs, four hits, a walk, and striking out ten Reds batters to pick up the win.
This outing lowered deGrom’s ERA to 1.77, the best mark in the major leagues. Despite the All-Star’s stellar pitching, he has struggled to add to his win tally, primarily because his team struggles to score runs. On average, he only gets 3.61 runs of support when he pitches, the third-worst run support total in the MLB, trailing only Jose Urena (3.23) and Gio Gonzalez (3.36).
You can’t help but feel bad for deGrom, who has been perhaps the best pitcher in the MLB but with nothing to show for it.
Jacob deGrom has gone 8.0 innings in four of his last five starts. In that span he has a 1.85 ERA with 39 Ks and 5 walks.
He’s 0-3.
I’ve never seen anything like this.
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) August 4, 2018
The @Braves are 5-0 in games Jacob deGrom starts this season.
He has a 1.09 ERA in those games. pic.twitter.com/If4gTIBrlt
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 4, 2018
August 8th’s win vs. the Cincinnati Reds marks deGrom’s first victory since June 18th, bringing his win total up to six.
deGrom has to bear a heavy weight on his shoulders if he wants his team to win, knowing that allowing as much as one run could cost his team the game. “Jacob is so relaxed, he might not feel the stress of those, but I would have to think every time a runner gets in scoring position or every time a home run hitter gets up that he steps on the gas a tad more to make sure he doesn’t even give up one run.”
Most starts allowing 1 run or fewer by a starting pitcher in first 130 games since 1908:
Jacob deGrom: 59
Clayton Kershaw: 56
Dwight Gooden: 53
Stephan Strasburg: 52
Jon Lester: 52— New York Mets Stats (@NYMStats) August 8, 2018
Yesterday was different though. The Mets were able to score five runs while Jacob was in the game to bring him within one outing of evening his win-loss total at seven.
In spite of his pitching record, deGrom is widely considered the favorite to take home the NL CY Young Award for his dominance, an honor that barely alluded him the year prior as he finished 8th in the award voting.
Several executives believe that he should not be penalized for being on a team that does not score runs for him, as the Mets pitcher is having a season for the ages.
