What is a “dominating” pitcher?
The term can mean many different things. It could be the flamethrower who leaves every batter feeling outmatched. It could be the ace who, by hook or by crook, sets down the batting order three times through, putting up zeroes for eight or nine frames.
But if you are to apply the word “dominating” to a season, you mean something bigger. You mean opposing teams hatch strategies such as, “Hold them to one or two, and try to get to the bullpen in the seventh or eighth.” You mean an ace whose manager knows exactly what to expect from his starter.
You mean Jacob deGrom.
Specifically, Mets ace Jacob deGrom in 2018 turned in a season-long domination. It was the best pitching season of the decade. Shockingly, embarrassingly, and painfully, he got only 10 wins. Almost as shockingly, he suffered nine losses. How does a 10-9 pitcher get a Cy Young Award?
By doing his job, excellently, every single game, in a way no other pitcher in the modern era ever has.
“Every single game” is, I admit, is a bit of an exaggeration. But only a bit.
On April 10, in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins, deGrom gave up three straight singles and a run. Then, with two outs, Marlins first baseman Justin Bour hit a three-run home run for a four-run inning that gave Miami the lead.
Before April 10, deGrom had given up three earned runs in two starts. Here’s the thing: After that four-run fifth inning in Miami on April 10, deGrom never gave up more than three runs in a single game — all season, for 29 straight starts. And deGrom never left a game before the seventh inning, and he never left a game mid-inning.
The 1.70 ERA is jaw-dropping. But the consistency here is what is unprecedented. Every single start, after April 10, deGrom held the opponents to three runs or fewer — but on average, he gave up about one and a half runs. And every single day, he lasted through the sixth inning, and usually through the seventh or the eighth.
Max Scherzer struck out more batters that season. Others have had lower ERAs in other years. No pitcher has ever been as reliable and consistent, at least not this past decade.
And deGrom did this all in the era of the juiced ball.
This season-long domination deserves its own name: deGromination.
