Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom rolls to landslide victory for Cy Young Award on the strength of 1.70 ERA

Courtesy New York Mets

Jacob deGrom, whose won-lost record was 10-9, had the fewest victories for a Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher in a full season.

The previous low was 13 by the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez in the AL in 2010. The Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela was also a 13-game winner in the NL in 1981, but that season was shortened by nearly a third due to a players’ strike. The previous lowest victory total for a Cy Young winner in the NL was the Giants’ Tim Lincecum, who was 15-7 in 2009.

DeGrom also had fewer victories than two relievers who won Cy Young Awards – Mike Marshall, the 1974 NL winner who was 15-12 for the Dodgers, and Sparky Lyle, the 1977 AL winner who was 13-5 for the Yankees. The lowest victory total for any Cy Young Award winner was Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, who had a 2-3 record in 2003.

DeGrom’s 1.70 earned run average was the sixth lowest for any Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher behind Bob Gibson’s 1.12 for the Cardinals in 1968, Dwight Gooden’s 1.53 for the Mets in 1985, Greg Maddux’s 1.56 for the Braves in 1994 and his 1.63 for the Braves in 1995 and Dean Chance’s 1.65 for the Angels in 1964.

This election marked the sixth time a Mets pitcher has been honored. Tom Seaver won the award in 1969, 1973 and 1975, Gooden in 1985 and R.A. Dickey in 2012.

DeGrom, the NL Rookie of the Year winner in 2014, became the seventh former Rookie of the Year Award recipient to win a Cy Young Award. The others were Valenzuela, the only pitcher to win both awards in the same season (1981), Seaver, Gooden, Don Newcombe, Rick Sutcliffe and Justin Verlander.

DeGrom, Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola were listed on every ballot.

Ballots, submitted prior to postseason play, were cast by two writers representing each league city. They are tabulated on a system that awards seven points for first place, four points for second place, three points for third place, two votes for fourth place and one point for fifth place.

2018 NL Cy Young

Player, Team1st2nd3rd4th5thPoints
Jacob deGrom, Mets291207
Max Scherzer, Nationals129123
Aaron Nola, Phillies272186
Kyle Freeland, Rockies217949
Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks7923
Miles Mikolas, Cardinals11813
Josh Hader, Brewers124
Mike Foltynewicz, Braves113
Jon Lester, Cubs12

Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the National League. Note that in some cases (*), if there are not enough eligible voters in one chapter, a voter from another chapter will represent that city. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.

NameAffiliationChapter1st2nd3rd4th5th
Ryan FaganSporting NewsATLDeGromScherzerNolaCorbinFreeland
Mark BowmanMLB.comATLDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandFoltynewicz
Steve GilbertMLB.comAZDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Zach BuchananThe AthleticAZDeGromScherzerNolaCorbinFreeland
Katsushi NagaoKyodo NewsCHIDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Mark GonzalesChicago TribuneCHIDeGromScherzerNolaMikolasFreeland
Bobby NightengaleCincinnati EnquirerCINDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Mark SheldonMLB.comCINDeGromScherzerNolaHaderFreeland
Thomas HardingMLB.comCOLDeGromScherzerFreelandLesterNola
Jack EtkinThe SportsXchangeCOLDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Hideki OkudaSports NipponLADeGromScherzerNolaCorbinMikolas
J.P. HoornstraSouthern California News GroupLADeGromScherzerNolaCorbinFreeland
Steven WineAssociated PressMIADeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Joe FrisaroMLB.comMIADeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Andrew WagnerThe Sports XchangeMILDeGromScherzerFreelandNolaHader
Todd RosiakMilwaukee Journal SentinelMILDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Anthony DiComoMLB.comNYDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Tim BrittonThe AthleticNYDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Meghan MontemurroThe AthleticPHIDeGromScherzerNolaCorbinFreeland
Scott LauberPhiladelphia InquirerPHIDeGromScherzerNolaCorbinMikolas
John PerrottoUSA TODAY SportsPITDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandHader
Adam BerryMLB.comPITDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Scott MillerBleacher ReportSDDeGromScherzerNolaFoltynewiczFreeland
John MaffeiSan Diego Union-TribuneSDScherzerDeGromMikolasNolaFreeland
Alex PavlovicNBC Sports Bay AreaSFDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Henry SchulmanSan Francisco ChronicleSFDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin
Mark SaxonThe AthleticSTLDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Jenifer LangoschMLB.comSTLDeGromScherzerNolaCorbinFreeland
Ken RosenthalThe Athletic*WASDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandMikolas
Jerry CrasnickESPN.com*WASDeGromScherzerNolaFreelandCorbin