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Jacob deGrom leads Cy Young ranking despite how horrible the Mets are

By Adam Strangis

BOSTON, MA - MAY 1: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Kansas City Royals during the third inning at Fenway Park on May 1, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 1: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Kansas City Royals during the third inning at Fenway Park on May 1, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 12: Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) pitches in relief during game five of the NLDS between the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs on October 12, 2017, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. Chicago Cubs defeated the Washington Nationals 9-8.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Max Scherzer, RHP for the Washington Nationals

14-5, 2.30 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 34.4 strikeout rate, 148.2 IP, 2.67 FIP, 3.09 xFIP, 4.8 WAR 

Max Scherzer and Cy Young just seem to go together through his career and this year is not any different. The plan for the Nationals coming into the season was Scherzer and fellow starter Stephen Strasburg would be the 1-2 punch that was feared throughout the National League. That hasn’t really worked out as Strasburg has been limited to just 85.1 innings this season and hasn’t been himself when he has pitched. Scherzer has done his level best to pick up the slack and just continues to be one of the best in the game every single night.

He just turned 34 years old recently but Father Time(in pitching years, I’m not calling 34 year old folks old seeing as how I’m 33) has yet to catch up with Scherzer. His ERA, HR/9 and BB/9 are all down from last year. Somehow, he’s been even better than 2017 and he deserves to be right there in the running for the award. He’s only given up four earned in two of his 23 starts and half of his starts have resulted in double digit strikeouts. There’s not really anything you can pick at as a reason Scherzer can’t win the Cy Young.

The interesting thing is how the perception of this season being a failure for the Nationals effects Scherzer. It really shouldn’t matter because Scherzer can only control the pitching aspect of the game every fifth day. When he’s on the mound, he dominates virtually every time out. In addition, the Nationals are also having a much better season than the man that I think should win the N.L Cy Young and may not be able to overcome the stink of his team to do it.

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