After Saturday night’s pitchers duel between the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Mets Jacob deGrom, the Cy Young chase seems closer than ever heading into the final two weeks of the season. How do these aces stack up to each other and who comes out victorious?
In 169 career starts, Jacob deGrom has allowed one or no runs 78 times.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 15, 2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu: 12-5, 2.35 ERA, 168.2 IP, 148 Ks
Ryu was far ahead at the race at the All-Star break with a 1.73 ERA, but has regressed a little bit in the second half. He still has a 3.47 ERA during the second half, which is still a good number. Despite some struggles, Ryu is still ahead of the pack and should still be considered the front runner for the award.
Mike Soroka: 12-4, 2.57 ERA, 164.2 ERA, 130 Ks
Soroka is a dark horse, over shadowed by the other veterans in the Cy Young race. He has been a trailblazer in today’s home run reliant game as he has the lowers HR/9 in baseball. If Pete Alonso was not having such a dominant year, Soroka would be the rookie of the year winner. He probably will not win the Cy Young, but he will definitely be somewhere in the top three or four range.
Jacob deGrom: 9-8, 2.61 ERA, 2.61 ERA, 190 IP, 230 Ks
deGrom has followed up his 2018 season with another dominant one. He has a bad April, but has been the same old deGrom for the rest of the season. He seems to be number two in the Cy Young race right now. deGrom might have the better opportunity to win since the Mets will need him to pitch while the Dodgers can rest Ryu heading into the postseason.
Jacob deGrom, 99mph on his 99th pitch.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 15, 2019
Max Scherzer: 10-6, 2.65 ERA, 159.2 IP, 222 Ks
Scherzer’s Cy Young chase was hampered by his stints on the IL, but he has returned to form since he became healthy again. He is right behind deGrom on the strikeout list and is just a handful of innings behind Ryu and Soroka. Should he finish over 170 innings, he will certainly have a very interesting resume for the writers to evaluate.
Sonny Gray: 10-7, 2.80 ERA, 163.2 IP, 190 Ks
After a disastrous season with the Yankees, he found a new home in Cincinnati. He has allowed the least hits per nine innings and has looked like the pitcher the Yankees were looking to acquire. Gray rose up the ranks for the Cy Young relatively quietly and the fact he is pitching so well at Great American Ball Park should help his cause for some votes.
Jacob deGrom is my prediction to win the award. He has been able to dominate over much more innings than his competition and the writers have already shown how highly they regard the Mets ace. Should he win the Cy Young, he will join Tom Seaver as the only Mets to win the award multiple times.