NEW YORK — He was once the best pitcher on the planet, the modern-day Sandy Koufax, only for injuries to cruelly disrupt his path to Cooperstown.
Another was the hottest free-agent pitcher in baseball, helping lead the Washington Nationals to their first World Series championship, only to become a financial burden who was kept around simply because of the hefty contract commitment.
The other was a career journeyman, who had not pitched in the big leagues since 2021, and was sitting home last summer believing his career was over.
Today, Jacob deGrom is pitching like a Cy Young winner again.