AL Cy Young?

Greinke could probably have a few more wins if he got to pitch against Kansas City. ;D

 

We have a BBWA voter in the shop. I asked him if Greinke not pitching against the Yanks or Sox would affect his vote for Greinke as Cy Young. He basically said no, for many of the reasons y'all did.

And I'm not that stubborn that I won't agree. Greinke's body of work is pretty impressive if you can break down why he's 12-8 and not 18-1, as he very well could be.

Still, I'm curious about what the Royals would do to get Greinke a start against the Sox and/or Yanks. It's obvious the Royals need any accolades they can get, be it Cy Young or Rookie of the Year or MVP. The franchise is in shambles, so to have the Cy Young winner would be a positive for the organization.

What if he starts the Sept. 20 series finale at Chicago (on a Sunday)? The next 4 would be at home against Boston. (KC fans might have to help me for this next part). Is Greinke an every-4th-day starter or every 5th day? Because if he started that 9/20 game against Chicago, and was an every-5th-day guy, he'd miss the 4-game set against the Sox.

So, as a GM (or manager), do you move him up a day in the rotation to let him pitch the finale of the Sox series on 3 days rest instead of 4?

KC follows the Boston series with 3 against Minnesota, then ends the season with 3 at New York, so Greinke definitely gets a start in Yankee Stadium.

He's 12-8, and Oz had the great breakdown of his starts showing how he easily could've won several more games had the Royals brought more than their Double-A bats. So, 12-8 easily could be 18-1 or 17-2, and then it's a no-brainer when you add in all the other stats.

I guess I would just want to see some stats against Boston or New York even though there's no Cy Young requisite that says you have to face every team in the league. But if you're the GM and trying to get as much exposure as you can against the best teams in the league, would you tell the manager to tweak the rotation to get your Cy Young candidate a start against either or both teams?

 

If I am his manager or GM, there is no way I mess with Greinke's schedule. I certainly wouldn't throw him on short rest. I don't think they should baby him, either, but asking him to go on a short rest seems like it would make him more likely to get hurt or just have a lousy performance. He's 26 years old. His long-term health is more important than showing the voters something they shouldn't need to see anyway.

Would the Royals do it? Probably. Hillman let Gil Meche throw over 130 pitches just so he could get a complete game earlier this season. Never mind that Meche has a history of injuries, though most of that was in Seattle, and he had tweaked his back earlier in the season. Of course, Meche hasn't been right since and ended up spending time on the DL due to more issues with his back. I can't imagine how that happened.

Sure, Meche is older and doesn't have Greinke's talent, but he is a big part of that franchise, particularly due to his contract. They could be dumb enough to risk Greinke's health, too.

 

Best option would probably to keep him on his usual schedule, but pitch him on short rest for the Yankees series. But it's like your co-worker said, pitching against only the Red Sox or Yankees shouldn't be enough to keep him from winning the Cy Young. No Red Sox or Yankees pitcher gets penalized for avoiding their own stacked lineup, and as noted above, imagine some of the numbers Greinke would put up if he had the opportunity to pitch against his own team.

EDIT -- Fangraphs, using Bill James' Game Score, says that 15K performance was only Greinke's fifth-best start this season. But then, James and Rob Neyer's Cy Young Predictor on ESPN has Greinke eighth in the AL, so there is that.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/zack-greinke-dazzles-once-more

 

1. Greinke
2. Hernandez
3. Verlander

 

For the record, Greinke just tossed a 1-hit shutout at Seattle.

That the Royals scrounged up three runs in support notwithstanding.

 

so no love for scott feldman? 14-4 and 3.33 as a starter, including 10-1 2.92 on the road and 5-0 2.89 in august.

 

When he strikes out 30 in back-to-back starts maybe.

 

His two dominant starts this week certainly went a long way toward strengthening his case. He dropped his ERA to 2.32.

 

As I said on the other thread, he's still only got 13 wins. He'll have to win 17-18 to clinch the Cy, especially if someone like Sabathia or Verlander wins 20.

 

That is possible, though it shouldn't happen. Greinke leads the AL with a 2.32 ERA. Right now Verlander's is 3.38 (6th) and Sabathia's is 3.56 (7th). Felix Hernandez is second with a 2.77 ERA, so Greinke is nearly a half a run lower than everybody else.

Besides, those 13 wins are currently only one fewer than Verlander and two fewer than Sabathia despite both of them playing for vastly superior teams. Verlander does have a small edge in strikeouts, 211-202.

Things may change over the final month, but Greinke has been the superior pitcher to this point.

 

Totally agree, but what's right and how the writers vote are often two entirely different things ...

And Verlander's got 15 wins now (he won today).