AL Cy Young

That's right.

Here's some winners you didn't even know were winners:

Freddy Garcia
Ervin Santana
Carlos Zambrano

All better career winning percentages than King Felix. Why? Because they are winners. And winners win.

 

Thank you for proving perfect evidence of how flawed wins are as a pitching statistic.

 

It's not just wins. It's winning percentage. That means those guys don't lose much. Know why? Cause losers lose, not winners.

 

Is Cliff Lee off the list yet?

 

Ok. So thank you for perfect evidence of just how flawed winning percentage is as a pitching statistic.

Find me one manager or general manager in baseball who thinks any of those guys is even remotely close to the level of Felix Hernandez. I doubt you can because that person would be unemployed due to gross incompetence.

 

This is about the Cy Young award, not about who thinks what pitcher is better.

 

C.J. Wilson has to get some serious consideration. He's 7-0 since the All-Star break, 14-5, 2.88 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and .205 BAA overall. Plus, he pitches for a first-place team, he'll get over 200 innings and he's only given up 127 hits in 171.2 innings. He's been better than CC with less supporting cast.

 

It's the pitcher who has the best season. Apparently we have finally discovered the problem. You don't even understand what the award is for.

Good call, cranberry. Wilson has definitely pitched his way into the discussion.

 

So you're saying that, historically, wins have been by far the most important category for voters. I agree. But I think statistical evaluation and the makeup of the BBWAA electorate have evolved a lot in the past 4-5 years. The voters may surprise you.

 

Last year the Cy winners had the lowest win totals for starting pitchers in history, I believe. It was an aberration, born from the fact that no one won 20 games.

This year, Sabathia will most likely win 20 games. Felix Hernandez will not beat him out. In the NL, four pitchers have between 17 and 15 wins. If someone gets to 20, he wins the award. Halladay has become the frontrunner as he leads the league in Ks and IP, and is right there in ERA and wins.

The Cy Young Award has almost always gone to the guys who get 20 wins. Wins has always determined it. Wins will determine it again this year. The only way someone without a good winning record wins is if there is no one with a real good winning record.

 

Historically, yes, and there is undeniably some special kind of mojo that goes along with winning 20. We like our round numbers in sports, after all. Voters get smarter every year and they've been pushed by the sabermetric crowd to evolve pretty rapidly in recent years.

 

2007 Sabathia -- 19-7, 3.21 ERA
2007 Beckett -- 20-7, 3.27 ERA

Guess who won the Cy Young that year? Hint: Not a 20-win Beckett.