deGrom Ranked on MLB Network's "Top 100 Players Right Now!" Countdown

 

JACOB DEGROM RANKED 7^TH ON MLB NETWORK’S TOP 100 PLAYERS RIGHT NOW! COUNTDOWN

 

Scherzer, Marte, Alonso and Lindor Also Ranked on Top 100 Players Right Now! Series

 

New York Mets at Houston Astros Game on Monday Available Live on MLB Network

April 2, 2022 – New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom was ranked seventh on MLB Network’s annual Top 100 Players Right Now! program last night, which ranks the best players in Major League Baseball. The two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom finished one spot ahead of 2021 American League Hank Aaron Award winner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and one spot behind five-time Gold Glove Award winner Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to deGrom, teammate Max Scherzer ranked 12^th earlier on Friday, Starling Marte ranked 41^st on Wednesday, Pete Alonso ranked 62^nd and Francisco Lindor ranked 68^th on Tuesday.

Hosted by MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, alongside Ron Darling, Cliff Floyd and Mike Lowell, the six-part series counted down the top players based on player performance over the past several seasons, with an emphasis on 2021 and projected 2022 performance. Accolades and positional value were taken into account when evaluating players, including those returning from injury. Top 100 Players Right Now! featured a cumulative 224 All-Star selections, 98 Silver Slugger Awards, 61 Gold Glove Awards, 17 Most Valuable Player Awards, 16 Hank Aaron Awards and Rookie of the Year Awards, 13 Cy Young Awards, 12 Batting Titles, five Reliever of the Year Awards, and three World Series MVP Awards.

On last night’s countdown, MLB Network analyst and former MLB pitcher Ron Darling said of deGrom, “Well, the problem with the injuries last year … was he gonna dethrone Mike Trout? He might have had a chance if he pitched an entire season. He was not able to. I was watching early last season and I thought Bob Gibson’s mark – ERA in 1968 – was going down. That’s how good he is. I’m supposed to talk about pitching for a living, sometimes he does things I’ve never seen anyone do before. So, for me to even talk about it sometimes, I find it hard to, because he will go at hitters 80 percent of his pitches, 80 percent are on the glove side. If you’re a hitter, you know where the ball is gonna be and you still can’t hit it. Since Pedro Martínez, and I hesitate to say this, since Pedro Martínez this is the first pitcher that all of his pitches from fastball, to breaking ball, to changeup are as good or better than anyone in the game.”

The ranking for MLB Network’s top-10 players is listed below and the entire Top 100 Players Right Now! list is available here:

Top 100 Players Right Now!, 1-10:

1.        Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Los Angeles Angels

2.        Mike Trout, CF, Los Angeles Angels

3.        Fernando Tatís Jr., SS, San Diego Padres

4.        Juan Soto, RF, Washington Nationals

5.        Bryce Harper, RF, Philadelphia Phillies

6.        Mookie Betts, RF, Los Angeles Dodgers

7.        Jacob deGrom, SP, New York Mets

8.        Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

9.        Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

10.      Ronald Acuña Jr., RF, Atlanta Braves