Jacob deGrom: Crackerjacks Top NL Rookie in 2014

Jul 28, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) watches action between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies from the dugout at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t think Jacob deGrom was on the radar of many fantasy players at the beginning of the 2014 season. Heck, he wasn’t even in the New York Mets rotation to start the year. In an organization that includes Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Noah Syndergaard, deGrom was pretty easily lost in the shuffle.

After his 2015 season, that is no longer the case.

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As those numbers show, deGrom had a great season for the Mets and fantasy owners alike, which is why he earned the Crackerjacks 2014 Rookie of the Year Award.

On their own, the numbers are great for a rookie.

Last week, I wrote while I think he’ll be fine in 2015, I was expecting some regression from deGrom, especially in the early season. The reason is pretty simple. Pitchers that can throw strikes generally have an advantage against hitters that haven’t seen them much, or at all.

But there’s another side of that argument, and it’s not a small one. Jacob deGrom’s splits were pretty telling this year.

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I don’t know what happened in June, but deGrom obviously figured something out. As his reputation grew around the league and teams began to see him more and more, he got better. What does that mean?

Well, even if I am right and deGrom has an early go of it in 2015, it gives even more reason to think that he’ll respond well put up good numbers, and I didn’t need much encouragement to believe that.

Special mention does need to go to our Rookie of the Year runner up, Billy Hamilton. He’s still raw, very raw, and needs to develop more at the plate. But while Billy didn’t channel his inner Vince Coleman and swipe 100 bases, he was a disruptive force every time he reached base for the Reds. Maybe not quite good enough to be Rookie of the Year against deGrom, but very solid.

But the choice here was pretty clear. It wasn’t quite unanimous, but Jacob deGrom is the 2014 Rookie of the Year for the Crackerjacks.