Cy Young Awards thread

[Cubbiebum]

And as good as Chapman and Kimbrel have been, Fernando Rodney has been better. Different leagues but if you would vote for Kimbrel/Chapman in one league you'd have to vote for Rodney in the other.

 

[mcleme9]

I think both Reds (Cueto/Chapman) had great shots until their recent skids. If Cueto had avoided dropping three straight and if Chapman didn't have this arm fatigue, you could make a solid case for both of them. Still can, really. But, we're not playing the "if" game ... It just feels weird giving it to a knuckleballer. Seems "cheap" if you will. Cueto could still grab 20 wins and taking into consideration IP and the ball park he plays, he could scoot ahead of Gio.

 

[Cubbiebum]

I think both Reds (Cueto/Chapman) had great shots until their recent skids. If Cueto had avoided dropping three straight and if Chapman didn't have this arm fatigue, you could make a solid case for both of them. Still can, really. But, we're not playing the "if" game ... It just feels weird giving it to a knuckleballer. Seems "cheap" if you will. Cueto could still grab 20 wins and taking into consideration IP and the ball park he plays, he could scoot ahead of Gio.

Cueto yes, Chapman no. Kimbrel has more saves, less blown saves, better ERA, better WHIP and more K/9 inn. Even if Chapman pitched a bit more he would still have a worse save percentage, ERA and likely WHIP.

 

[Gehrig]

I think price will win it and would be a deserved winner but Verlander is having a damn fine season too.

Verlander is leading the league in WAR, IP, Ks and ERA+

R.A. Dickey won number 20 yesterday. Hes 20-6 for a team with 72 wins. He leads the league in K's and is just .01 behind Kershaw for the league lead in ERA.

Hes probably my pick for the Cy Young.

 

[SoCalDude]

Kershaw? Are you looking at last year's stats?
Weaver goes for his 20th tonight. But I'm not saying he should get the Cy Young.

 

[nmmetsfan]

I think both Reds (Cueto/Chapman) had great shots until their recent skids. If Cueto had avoided dropping three straight and if Chapman didn't have this arm fatigue, you could make a solid case for both of them. Still can, really. But, we're not playing the "if" game ... It just feels weird giving it to a knuckleballer. Seems "cheap" if you will. Cueto could still grab 20 wins and taking into consideration IP and the ball park he plays, he could scoot ahead of Gio.

Yes I'm a fanboi. But the idea of pitching is to get the batter out, so knuckleball or not, it's not cheap. Every pitcher in the league is free to add the knuckleball to their repertoire if they are capable/willing.

 

[mcleme9]

Cueto yes, Chapman no. Kimbrel has more saves, less blown saves, better ERA, better WHIP and more K/9 inn. Even if Chapman pitched a bit more he would still have a worse save percentage, ERA and likely WHIP.
[/quote]

True, but to be fair, Chapman wasn't a closer for the first two or three months of the season

 

[buckweaver]

- Dickey
- Gonzalez
- Kimbrel Kershaw (I wish I could put Kimbrel here, but no one with 60 IP can be the best pitcher in the league.) And yes, Kershaw. He's got a few more walks than last year, but otherwise, he's been every bit as good as he was last year. ERA leader, WHIP leader, could still end up as strikeouts leader. His 12-9 record has everything to do with his run support, not his pitching.

Saw a strong post from Dayn Perry at CBS yesterday, about how Dickey has earned every one of his 20 wins. No gave-up-5-runs-but-my-offense-scored-8 wins for him this year.

He's had a quality start in every single one of them, and not a bare-minimum QS, either. A quality start.

Gio's benefited from four wins in which he didn't reach the bare-minimum standards of a QS.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/20389936/ra-dickey-has-actually-earned-his-20-wins

 

[JackReacher]

Quality stuff, Buck. As usual.

Hell, I'm just happy a Nationals pitcher is in the conversation.

 

[buckweaver]

Hell, I'm just happy a Nationals pitcher is in the conversation.

As a Braves fan, I wish he'd lose more. But as a baseball fan, I'm glad someone on that staff is allowing us to stop talking about Strasburg for a while.

 

[Orange Hat Bobcat]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

Love that Gonzalez is in the conversation after getting traded about 112 times (or four times in a little more than six years, including twice by the White Sox). Remember watching him pitch in the Southern League and hoping he could put everything together eventually.

 

[Hokie_pokie]

I'm a Yankee fan, but if Dickey doesn't win, somebody (other than myself, obviously) deserves to get punched in the ****.

How he's managed to win 20 games, pitching for a team stocked with borderline Triple-A talent, is truly one of life's great mysteries.

 

[JackReacher]

Hell, I'm just happy a Nationals pitcher is in the conversation.

But as a baseball fan, I'm glad someone on that staff is allowing us to stop talking about Strasburg for a while.

You and me both.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

That seems to be Sonner's Gio Gonzalez argument.

 

[JC]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

That seems to be Sonner's Gio Gonzalez argument.

It seems silly to blame a player for the failure of his teammates.

 

[buckweaver]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

Cy Young, unlike the MVP, really is for best pitcher. Team success isn't supposed to be as large of a factor for this award.

I think Price wins, not only because I think he really is the best pitcher in the league this year (albeit by a slim margin over Verlander and Weaver/Hernandez/Sale), but also because Verlander's numbers were so outrageously good in 2011 that this year feels a little like a letdown.

The truth is, Verlander is not far off from where he was last year. His BABIP is about 50 points higher (still far below the league average), but he's been dominant in every other area. I wouldn't feel bad, by any means, if he won again.

 

[Starman]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

Love that Gonzalez is in the conversation after getting traded about 112 times (or four times in a little more than six years, including twice by the White Sox). Remember watching him pitch in the Southern League and hoping he could put everything together eventually.

Funny thing is, Verlander has been relatively mortal the last month or so as the Tigers have "charged" (well actually kinda more like stumbled) into the division lead.

He certainly would not be a bad pick, but he's way off from last year, when he was an absolute no-brainer.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I completely disagree with the belief that relievers can't be the best pitchers in a league and hence Cy Young winners (voters have agreed with me on occasion), but I'd still pick Dickey.

 

[JackReacher]

Unless the Rays win their last six games and sneak in as the second wild card, no way Price beats out Verlander. When the performances are that close (and they are), I think the edge still goes to the player who helped spur his team to October.

That seems to be Sonner's Gio Gonzalez argument.

Argument meaning, "There, I made a case (however ****ty) for the best pitcher on my favorite team because I was bored and felt like posting."

 

[buckweaver]

I completely disagree with the belief that relievers can't be the best pitchers in a league

Why so?

I just think most modern closers don't impact a significant number of games, nor the most significant high-leverage portion of the games in which they do appear.

Now, I do think a Rivera in '96-type reliever could be the best pitcher in the league. But until we get back to the days of "firemen", and we will someday, the one-inning guys just don't pitch enough to be all that valuable. At least, not as valuable as the guys who pitch 220 innings a season.

Especially not as the rate of teams winning games when leading after the 6th, 7th or 8th innings hasn't changed significantly since the Deadball Era, despite all the evolution in bullpen usage. Most teams win about 90 percent of those games, and they do no matter how good or bad their relievers are.