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The New York Mets’ Jacob deGrom and the Tampa Bay Rays’ Blake Snell won the Cy Young Award in their respective leagues on Wednesday.

They were outstanding, even as their teams failed to make playoff runs.

Winning with minimal run support isn’t easy, as deGrom found out. The Mets averaged 3.5 runs a game for him, the worst in baseball. Snell got enough backing to lead the majors in victories.

Despite a 10-9 record, deGrom’s capabilities were always on display. He led the majors in ERA (1.70), was second in the National League in innings (217) and second in strikeouts (269). The Mets, however, finished 77-85. They were fourth in the NL East and finished 13 games behind the Atlanta Braves. His 10 wins are the fewest by a Cy Young Award winner in a non-strike year.

“I’m extremely humbled to win this award along with some other great former Mets such as Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and R.A. Dickey,” said the right-handed deGrom.

Snell, who was 21-5, led Tampa Bay to a 90-72 record (the same as the Braves), but that wasn’t going to be good enough in the American League East, where the Boston Red Sox won 108 games (and the World Series) and the New York Yankees won 100. The Rays finished 18 games behind the Sox.

Snell didn’t have a winning record in either of his first two seasons. But the lefty posted a 1.89 ERA in 2018 and struck out 221 hitters in his first full year with the Rays, while holding opposing hitters to a .178 average, best in the majors. Remember how many innings deGrom worked? Snell threw only 180.2, the lowest ever by a Cy Young Award winner in a non-strike season.

Different guys, different styles, different leagues, different stats. But in the end, they were deemed the best.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman