New York Mets 2018 Season in Review: Team MVP

Now that the New York Mets’ 2018 season is over, we are going to take a look at the year as a whole over the next several days. We will break down the offense, starting pitching, relievers, coaching staff, and declare a team MVP along the way. We wrap up our season review series today by declaring our 2018 team MVP award for the New York Mets.

The New York Mets had a lot go wrong for them in 2018, but they did have some things go right. The starting pitching was outstanding, young players like Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil broke out, and Michael Conforto shook off the rust from shoulder surgery to have a tremendous second half. Despite all of the good things, there was not even a contest as to who the most valuable member of the Mets was in 2018. That man is the likely National League Cy Young Award winner, right hander Jacob deGrom.

The numbers speak for themselves with deGrom, but let’s take another refresher anyway. deGrom went only 10-9 on the season, but he led the major leagues with an incredible 1.70 ERA and added a 0.91 WHIP to boot. The Mets also saw deGrom set career highs in innings pitched (217) and strikeouts (269) while setting a major league record by posting 24 consecutive quality starts. deGrom gave the Mets to win a chance every single time he took the mound in 2018, and the fact that the Mets only gave him a 10-9 record is more of an indictment of the team’s ineptitude than any poor performance on the part of deGrom.

It seems odd to give the team MVP award to a player who only appeared in 32 of the team’s games, but deGrom was simply that dominant all season long. That kind of dominance is something the Mets haven’t seen since Dwight Gooden’s Cy Young campaign in 1985 and is even more impressive in the launch angle era of baseball. deGrom should also receive MVP votes because he was one of the most dominant players in the National League this season. While he likely won’t win that award, deGrom should be clearing room on his mantle to add the Cy Young in a month. While there isn’t an official trophy for this site’s team MVP award, deGrom totally earned it with his performance.