Mets ace Jacob deGrom won the NL Cy Young award for the second straight year. He received 29 of 30 first-place votes, becoming the 11th pitcher to win Cy Youngs in consecutive years. He and Verlander are the 20th and 21st players to win the award multiple times.
DeGrom is in special company as a repeat NL winner, joining Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.
“It was a dream to play this game and a dream to win one Cy Young,” deGrom said. “To win back to back was a goal. It’s hard to explain. You set these goals, but it almost doesn’t feel real yet.”
The 31-year-old led the NL with 255 strikeouts and posted a 2.43 ERA. His resume was bolstered by his durability — deGrom totaled 204 innings, compared to 182 2/3 for runner-up Hyun-Jin Ryu and 172 1/3 for Scherzer, the Nationals ace who finished third.
A year after taking the award despite just 10 victories — fewest ever by a starting pitcher — deGrom earned 11 wins with a Mets team that’s struggled to support him.
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