New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom may not be in the running to earn National League Most Valuable Player Award honors by the time late September arrives, but he's nevertheless on track to win a third career Cy Young.
He added to his Hall of Fame resume during the Wednesday afternoon home game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field.
In the top of the fourth inning, deGrom became the second-fastest pitcher in history to record his 1,500th career MLB strikeout:
Congrats to Jacob deGrom on 1,500 career strikeouts
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 7, 2021
He's the second-fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 1,500 Ks, behind Yu Darvish. pic.twitter.com/h0WVv1uQEb
As AJ Cassavell noted for the MLB website, Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres set the current mark in June when he hit 1,500 career strikeouts in 197 games. ESPN Stats & Info added:
Jacob deGrom recorded his 1,500th strikeout today.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 7, 2021
He reached the mark in just 198 games, passing Randy Johnson (206 games) for the 2nd-fastest in MLB history.
Only Yu Darvish has reached 1,500 strikeouts faster (197 games), setting the record last month. pic.twitter.com/VL61RpfUVg
It wasn't a perfect outing for deGrom, however, as the Brewers became the first team to hit multiple homers off the right-hander this season:
A from Jace for the lead!
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 7, 2021
The Brew Crew's the first team to hit multiple homers in a game off deGrom this season.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/ZVwS7B49Gi
The 33-year-old remains responsible for several other ridiculous stats that won't be matched by anyone else this year:
lol pic.twitter.com/G5M1HfVs3W
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 7, 2021
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