The 2018 NL Cy Young debate may be the most controversial run in the past decade. The two front-runners of this year’s award are Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals. The Cy Young award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. There are two Cy Young awards every year. One for the National League and one for the American League. The award is in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young who died in 1955. This year especially has had heavy debates on whether Jacob deGrom deserves it over Max Scherzer due to deGrom’s record.

There is no question about Jacob deGrom’s dominance throughout the 2018 season. This has been a heroic season for deGrom. Jacob broke a 108-year-old record as he posted his 26th start with allowing 3 runs or less, breaking Leslie “King” Cole’s record of 25 straight starts. With a record of 10-9 with 32 starts, the Mets lack of offensive support is to blame. The Mets finished 77-85 this season, despite starting the season 11-1, a new franchise record. DeGrom leads all of Major league baseball with a 1.70 ERA (Earned Runs Average) which is the fifth lowest ERA posted by a starting pitcher in the last 50 years. Through 217 innings pitched, deGrom put up an opponents average of 0.196 and had 269 strikeouts. Jacob deGrom proved himself of being a top player throughout Major League Baseball. If the Mets’ offense had scored four runs in each of deGrom’s starts he would be 30-0, if they scored three runs he would be 25-1, and if they had scored just two runs per start he would be 20-6. Not only does this further prove his case for NL Cy Young, but it also brings up the debate of can Jacob deGrom be an MVP Candidate?

The other pitcher that is deserving of the award is Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals. Scherzer is a three-time winner of the Cy Young award. He won the American League Cy young when he was part of the Detroit Tigers in 2013 and the National League award in 2016 as well as 2017 as part of the Nationals. This 2018 season Scherzer posted an 18-7 record, with 300 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA. On Tuesday, September 25th, the Nationals played the Marlins and in the seventh inning, Scherzer recorded his 300th strikeout of the season. Max became the sixth pitcher in MLB history to do so joining Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, and Chris Sale. Since 2012 Scherzer has proved he is one of the best pitchers of the last decade. Other than an MVP and Perfect game, there hasn’t been anything that Scherzer hasn’t already accomplished.

Overall, there is no question that Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are two of the best in the game. This year’s Cy Young award certainly will not be an easy task to distribute. Both candidates have recorded a historic year in their own ways. No matter who wins this year’s award, there is a lot to look forward to for the 2019 season.