Jacob deGrom Now Favored to Win National League MVP
Back in May, I wrote about how there was value in betting on Jacob deGrom to be the third pitcher since 1992 to win both the Cy Young and MVP award in the same season. At the time, deGrom was listed at +800 odds to win the award.
As of today, WynnBET now has deGrom set as the odds on favorite at +165 (bet $100 to profit $165).
He has surpassed Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ronald Acuna Jr., whose odds are now set at +240 and +300 respectively.
deGrom has been putting together arguably the best season for a pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball. Through his first 10 starts of the season, he has a 0.56 ERA and a 0.531 WHIP. No matter how many times I type out his statistics, it never fails to blow my mind.
Top top it off, deGrom has also been hot with his bat this season. With the National League getting rid of the designated hitter after using them during the last year's shortened season, deGrom has had to return to the batters box during his starts and he’s been one of the best hitters on the New York Mets. deGrom has a .400 batting average with five RBIs in 25 plate appearances.
That means he has more runs batted in as a hitter than earned runs allowed as a pitcher. Move over Shohei Ohtani, there’s a new dual-threat phenom in town.
More Jacob deGrom ridiculousness for your timelines. pic.twitter.com/3zBEQ5nRZO
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 12, 2021
Jacob deGrom is the first pitcher to have more RBI (5) than earned runs allowed (4) in any 10-start span in a single season since RBI became an official stat in 1920.
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) June 12, 2021
h/t: @StatsBySTATS pic.twitter.com/m6U7YX5XUK
Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw are the only pitchers since 1992 to be named MVP in their respective leagues, with Verlander achieving the feat with the Detroit Tigers in 2011 and Kershaw achieving the feat in 2014 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Verlander did it with a 2.40 ERA in 2011 and Kershaw had a 1.77 ERA in 2014. deGrom is miles ahead of those two season performances, so if he can manage this inhuman pace, there’s no question he’ll be the National League MVP.
deGrom is a big reason why the Mets have the second best team earned run average in baseball at 3.09. The San Diego Padres at 2.92 are the only team that are ranked higher than them in that stat.
Major League ERA leaders:
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 12, 2021
1. Jacob deGrom, 0.56
6. Taijuan Walker, 2.07
10. Marcus Stroman, 2.25
No other team even has three qualified pitchers in the Top 25, let alone the Top 10.
deGrom is slated to get his next start on June 16th against the Chicago Cubs.