JACOB DEGROM RANKED 1ST ON MLB NETWORK’S COUNTDOWN
TOP 10 STARTING PITCHERS RIGHT NOW!
Tom Seaver and Pedro Martínez Featured on
Top 10 Starting Pitchers of the Live Ball Era
February 1, 2020 – New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom was ranked first overall on MLB Network’s annual Top 10 Starting Pitchers Right Now! program earlier tonight. deGrom, who ranked third on last year’s countdown, finished one spot ahead of the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander. In addition to deGrom, the Mets’ Wilson Ramos ranked sixth on Top 10 Catchers Right Now! last week, while Pete Alonso ranked third on Top 10 First Basemen Right Now! and Michael Conforto ranked ninth on Top 10 Right Fielders Right Now! on January 18, and Brandon Nimmo ranked ninth on Top 10 Center Fielders Right Now! on January 11.
Hosted by MLB Network’s Brian Kenny alongside MLB Network analysts, each Top 10 Right Now! ranking considers player performance over the last two seasons, with an emphasis on 2019. Offensive, defensive and Statcast metrics, plus expert analysis by the MLB Network research team, are also taken into account when determining each ranking.
On tonight’s countdown, MLB Network analyst and 13-year MLB pitcher Ron Darling said of deGrom, “I’ve almost seen every single one of the starts this young man has made and one of the things that he does better than anyone else is he has the ability to make that pitch when you have to make it. The difference in run prevention – the elite pitchers to the guys that aren’t so elite – everyone has baserunners, everyone’s going to occasionally have the bases loaded. Can you come up with that pitch when you need it, to make sure you’re not giving up runs? He is that guy.”
The complete ranking for MLB Network’s top-10 starting pitchers is listed below and available at mlb.com/top10rightnow. An embeddable recap on deGrom can be seen here:
Top 10 Starting Pitchers Right Now!
1. Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
2. Justin Verlander, Houston Astros
3. Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
4. Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
5. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Toronto Blue Jays
6. Zack Greinke, Houston Astros
7. Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
8. Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals
9. Mike Clevinger, Cleveland Indians
10. Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers
Now in its tenth season, MLB Network’s Top 10 Right Now! series features analysis from MLB Network on-air personalities and roundtable discussions with The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh, and MLB.com writers Mike Petriello and Sarah Langs. As 2020 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Live Ball Era, each episode will include a new segment called “Top 10 of the Live Ball Era,” featuring Brian Kenny and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo discussing and debating the best players at each position over the last 100 years. Hall of Famer Tom Seaver ranked second on Russo’s “Top 10 Starting Pitchers of the Live Ball Era” ranking, finishing one spot ahead of Pedro Martínez and one spot behind Sandy Koufax. Seaver ranked third on Kenny’s starting pitchers list, finishing one spot ahead of Martínez and one spot behind Randy Johnson. Hall of Famer Martínez ranked third on Russo’s ranking, finishing one spot ahead of Johnson and one spot behind Seaver. Martínez ranked fourth on Kenny’s list, finishing one spot ahead of Greg Maddux and one spot behind Seaver.
Viewers can submit their own active top-10 list for each position by voting on MLB Network’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages using #Top10RightNow. All #Top10RightNow votes are incorporated into an overall fan-generated Top 10 Right Now! list in each episode. The complete remaining schedule for the Top 10 Right Now! series is listed below:
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