In 2014, Jacob deGrom won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Considering he didn’t make his debut until May 15, the odds were stacked against the New York Mets rookie.
How did he do it? deGrom made 22 starts that year. He finished with a 9-6 record along with a 2.69 ERA. For a kid or a veteran, these numbers are superb.
The 2014 campaign featured a rather weak class of National League rookies. Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds finished a distant second in the voting. deGrom’s teammates Travis d’Arnaud and Jeurys Familia received mild consideration, but not nearly enough to challenge him.