Bumgarner says deGrom should be leading Cy Young race despite record

Madison Bumgarner believes New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom is deserving of the National League Cy Young Award despite owning just an 8-7 record to date.

"It's so close with deGrom, (Max) Scherzer and (Aaron) Nola, too, but if I had a (Cy Young) vote, (deGrom is) probably where I'd go with it," the San Francisco Giants southpaw told MLB.com's Joe Trezza.

While he's received very little run support from the Mets, deGrom has put together one of the best pitching campaigns in baseball throughout 2018, authoring a 1.71 ERA and 0.96 WHIP across 168 innings, along with 204 strikeouts and only 36 walks.

"In his case, I don't think (the record) should affect his candidacy at all," Bumgarner added. "If anybody disagrees with that, they clearly aren't watching the games. I don't think it should, but there is no doubt that it will cost him."

The lowest win total from a starting pitcher who earned a Cy Young Award is 13, which belonged to both Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners in 2010 and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

Hernandez captured the AL honor with a 13-12 record and a 2.27 ERA across 249 2/3 innings. Valenzuela posted a 2.48 ERA with 11 complete games en route to winning the NL award in a season that was shortened by a players strike.

Meanwhile, deGrom and the Mets have just 36 games remaining after Wednesday, which won't give the ace much breathing room if he hopes to match Hernandez and Valenzuela's total.

Bumgarner and deGrom are set to square off against one another in the finale of their teams' series on Thursday.