Holy Shit, Jacob DeGrom Got A Win

For the first time since June 18, Mets ace Jacob deGrom started a baseball game and was officially awarded with a win at the end of that baseball game. This is notable mostly because deGrom has been pretty much the best pitcher in the Major Leagues this season.

Over the course of six stress-free shutout innings in what wound up being an 8-0 Mets win over the Reds, deGrom was his usual, spectacular self. He allowed just four singles and a walk and struck out 10. More importantly, he was for once not completely abandoned by his teammates. The eight runs the Mets scored today were more than they managed to score in deGrom’s last four starts combined.

The start lowered deGrom’s already league-leading ERA to 1.77, and his record improved to 6-7. That combination of numbers remains one of the strangest artifacts of the 2018 season, and a timeless testament to the specific lameness of this Mets team. How weird and dumb of a baseball team do you have to be saddle a pitcher who hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a single start all season with seven losses? The Mets go to work and answer that question every day.

DeGrom has now made 23 starts on the season, and still has a shot at reaching the double-digit win mark. Personally, I’m hoping he can manage to win the Cy Young without ever winning that 10th game, not only because he deserves the award, but because it would enshrine this particular Mets embarrassment in the record books for all time.