Kolten Wong reaches home after hitting his two-run homer (photo/MLB)
Jacob deGrom, a 26-year-old Mets starting pitcher, who began 2013 in Class A ball and was listed as the 19th-best prospect in the club’s farm system prior to the 2014 campaign, was named the National League Rookie of the Year, beating out centerfielder Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds and Kolten Wong, the Cardinals second baseman who finished third.
deGrom made it to the starting rotation by May and finished with a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts, 144 strikeouts in 140 1/3 innings (9.2 strikeouts per nine innings) and only 43 walks. deGrom also went 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his last five starts, striking out 11 per nine innings in that stretch.
Wong hit just .249, but had a surprising 12 homers in 113 games. After an April 25th game when Wong went 0 for 4 against Pittsburgh, he was sent down to Triple-A for a couple of weeks to work on his hitting stroke and when he returned to the big leagues on May 16th, he went on a tear.
Wong hit safely in nine of his next ten games and got up to a season high .283 average. He went 17 for 41 in that ten game stretch for a .414 average with four doubles, six RBI and five runs scored.
In the playoffs, Wong hit just .233, but he had three home runs and six RBIs in the two series over Los Angeles and San Francisco.
