2014 Cy Young Award Winners

I had mentioned to someone yesterday whether in the Cy Young Award voting we would see an upset and/or the favored choices winning the trophy. Well folks, we got a bit of both when the announcement for the awards came down from the Baseball Writers of America's mountain. Here goes.

- 2014 American League Cy Young Pitcher of the Year
Seattle Mariners fans, especially those of the King's Korner are undoubtedly still steaming from their ace Felix Hernandez being denied his second AL Cy Young Award. Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians is your 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner.

In a very close vote by the Baseball Writers of America, Kluber earned 17 first-place votes and 169 points with Felix Hernandez of the Mariners earning the other 13 first-place votes and 159 points. White Sox starter Chris Sale finished third with 78 points.

18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and 269 strikeouts in 235 2/3 innings. The right-hander led the league in wins, finished second in strikeouts, third in innings pitched and was third in ERA.

After failing to make the All-Star Team, Kluber finished the season with a 10-4 record with a 1.73 ERA with 127 strikeouts and 19 walks. He pitched deep into those last 14 games, only once failing to reach into the sixth and reaching the sixth once, the seventh three times, the eighth four times, the ninth five times, completing two with one shutout.

In terms of Hernandez, the article Corey Kluber edges out King Felix from ESPN.com dated November 13, 2014 states:

Hernandez went 15-6 with an AL-leading 2.14 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 236 innings. He set a major league record when he pitched 16 straight games of seven or more innings and allowing two earned runs or less. It was a brilliant stretch from May to early August that put Hernandez in the lead for his second Cy Young award.

In the same 14 game stretch after the All-Star Game, Hernandez went 8-6 with a 2.16 ERA with 94 strikeouts and 21 walks. In those last 14-games, Hernandez failed to reach the sixth four times. He finished the sixth three times, the seventh seven times and the eighth twice. Hernandez was a victim of his team's lack of offensive performance in those games.

Kluber becomes the fourth Cleveland Indians pitcher to win the American League Cy Young Award Gaylord Perry in 1972, C.C. Sabathia in 2007 and Cliff Lee in 2008.

As I told my friend Christopher yesterday, I think Kluber's strong finish and the complete games/shutouts were the determining factors that led to his winning the AL Cy Young. I would have been satisfied if either he or Hernandez won the award. Both were deserving of the recognition.

- Click Here for Corey Kluber's 2014 Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for Felix Hernandez's 2014 Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here for the article Could Corey Kluber become the first Cleveland Indians pitcher to win two AL Cy Young Awards? by Paul Hoynes from The Cleveland.com website

- 2014 National League Cy Young Pitcher of the Year
What can I say about Clayton Kershaw that hasn't been said already. Kershaw is quickly staking his claim as being arguably the most dominant pitcher of our generation by winning the National League Cy Young Award for the third time in the last four seasons.

Kershaw won the award via a unanimous vote taking all 30 first place votes. Cincinnati Reds' starter Johnny Cueto finished second and the St. Louis Cardinals' starter Adam Wainwright finished third.

According to the article Clayton Kershaw wins NL Cy Young dated November 12, 2014:

Kershaw, who also won the award in 2011 and 2013, went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA this past season, leading the Dodgers (94-68) to their second straight NL West title. Kershaw was baseball's most dominant pitcher despite missing over a month with a back injury. He led the majors in wins and ERA and had 239 strikeouts in just 198 1/3 innings.

Kershaw also threw his first career no-hitter on June 18, when he had 15 strikeouts and did not walk a batter against the Colorado Rockies.

In doing so, he becomes the 14th National League pitcher to win the award unanimously. According to the BBWAA website, Sandy Koufax achieved it three times, Greg Maddux twice and once apiece by Randy Johnson, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Rick Sutcliffe, Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, Jake Peavy and Roy Halladay.

Kershaw is also the fifth NL pitcher to win the award in consecutive seasons. Maddux and Johnson each won four years in a row. The other back-to-back winners were Koufax and Tim Lincecum.

Kershaw’s third Cy Young Award tied the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers’ franchise record that was originally held by Sandy Koufax and is the eighth Dodgers pitcher to win the award and the twelfth time that the a Dodgers pitcher won the award. Don Newcombe was the first in 1956, followed by Don Drysdale in 1962, Sandy Koufax in 1963, 1965-1966, Mike Marshall in 1974, Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, Orel Hershiser in 1988, Eric Gagne in 2003 and finally Clayton Kershaw in 2011, 2013-2014.

Kershaw is also the sixth pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards in a four-year span since the award was first given in 1956. The other pitchers are Randy Johnson 1999-2002, Pedro Martinez 1997-2000, Greg Maddux 1992-1995, Jim Palmer 1973-1976 and Sandy Koufax 1963-1966.

What's even more impressive that Kershaw has only been in the league for seven years and has been a full-time player for the last six years. At the current age of 26, it is scary to think how much more he will improve and how many more awards he might be capable of winning. Now if the Dodgers can only get him a better bullpen so he can win a post-season game.

- Click Here to see Clayton Kershaw's 2014 Statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Later on today will be the Most Valuable Player announcement. Will it be a Southern California clean sweep with Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw winning the award? Or will it be a Tigers player once again spoiling it for Trout, this time in the form of Victor Martinez. Can the Indians make it another upset in the form of Michael Brantley? Can Andrew McCutchen make it two in a row in the National League? Will Giancarlo Stanton grab the NL MVP trophy and further use that as a bargaining chip in his extension negotiations with the Marlins? We'll have to wait for 6pm to see who wins the awards.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Sandy Koufax Becomes The First Pitcher to Throw 4 No-Hitters September 9, 1965

On this day in Baseball History September 9, 1965: In front of a small crowd of 29,135 fans at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Sandy Koufax throws a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs becoming the first pitcher to throw four no-hitters in the Major League Baseball History. Koufax threw no-hitters in four consecutive season: June 30, 1962 against the New York Mets 5-0, May 11, 1963 against the San Francisco Giants 8-0, June 4, 1964 against the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 and the perfect game against the Cubs 1-0. Here is the box score for the perfect game against the Chicago Cubs from the September 10, 1965 edition of the New York Times.

In achieving his fourth no-hitter, Koufax passed Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians who threw no-hitters in 1940, 1946 and 1950. Cy Young threw a no-hitter in 1987 of the then National League Cleveland team and for the Boston Red Sox 1901 and 1908.  Larry Corcoran of the Chicago Cubs threw no-hitters in 1880, 1882 and 1884. Koufax's record would stand until September 26, 1981 when Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros would throw his fifth of his record setting seven no-hitters against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Houston Astrodome.

The book "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy" by Jane Leavy weaves the biography of Koufax's live in between chapters that focuses on this game from the perspective of fans at the game, those listening at home and from players at the game from both teams. I would highly recommend to not only read about this game but to learn more about Sandy Koufax who is a very private person and is very hesitant to let too many people in his personal life.

What made the feat even more amazing was that Koufax was laboring with a left arm that would hurt him so much during the season, that he would retire after the 1966 season. Koufax would strike out 14 Cub batters to give him a league high 332 strikeouts. Koufax would finish the season with a league high 382 strikeouts. That puts Koufax as ninth All-Time in single season strikeouts and only second behind Nolan Ryan when not counting the dead-ball era pitchers on the list.

Here is the top ten pitchers on the single season strikeout list (age in parenthesis):

1. 513 Matt Kilroy (20) Lefty 1886
2. 499 Toad Ramsey (21) Lefty 1886
3. 483 Hugh Daily (36) Righty 1884
4. 451 Dupee Shaw (25) Lefty 1884
5. 441 Old Hoss Radbourn (29) Righty 1884
6. 417 Charlie Buffinton (23) Righty 1884
7. 385 Guy Hecker (28) Righty 1884
8. 383 Nolan Ryan (26) Righty 1973
9. 382 Sandy Koufax (29) Lefty 1965
10. 374 Bill Sweeney (26) Righty 1884

Koufax would finish the 1965 season with a record of 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA with 27 complete games in 41 games started and the aforementioned 382 strikeout with 71 walks and 216 hits allowed for a WHIP of 0.855. Koufax would unanimously win his second of three Cy Young Award trophies. That in itself is an amazing achievement since only ONE award was given to the best pitcher of BOTH leagues combined until the year 1967. For the 1967 season, there was an award given to one American League pitcher and one National League pitcher.

As I mentioned above, Koufax would retire after the 1966 season and would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972 with 86.7% of the vote (344/396 ballots). That is also an amazing achievement as Leavy's book mentions in detail, Koufax had his troubles with control while playing for the Dodgers in Brooklyn. It wasn't until the team moved and was playing in Los Angeles for a few years, that something seemed to click for Koufax. His last six of a total of eleven seasons, from 1961-1966 were simply amazing. Here are his statistics from that period courtesy of Baseball Reference.com

What I find amazing is that the three no-hitter level has only been populated by five players in over 150 years of Professional Baseball. Homer Bailey, Tim Lincecum and Justin Verlander all have two no-hitters each. Can either one of those players make history and join Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Jim Corcoran, Bob Feller and Cy Young with three no-hitters? Time will tell for Bailey, Lincecum and Verlander if they can join this exclusive club.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Sandy Koufax's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access the No Hitter Records page from Baseball Almanac.com

Pitchers to Win Rookie of the Year, Cy Young AND MVP Awards

I came across the topic of this post when reading about a series of anecdotes and interviews done of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in relation to their memories of their time playing in the city of Pittsburgh either as a member of the Pirates or as a visiting player. The article Pittsburgh's claim to fame from the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly by Douglas Heuck & Dan Fitzpatrick states that one of the Hall of Famers that was interviewed was (at the time of the article being published) the only player to have won the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young AND Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards.

In case you don't know, the Rookie of the Year was first given out in 1947 for the most outstanding rookie league-wide (1949 on for a Rookie in each league). The Cy Young was created in 1956 with one pitcher winning it yearly league-wide. (1967 for a pitcher in each league). The Most Valuable Player award has been awarded to one player in each league since 1931. So based on those dates, the earliest that anyone could have won all three awards is 1956.

Also something else to consider, it seemed that the MVP award was given to pitchers more often from 1950-1990. There has been movement that seems to think that pitchers shouldn't win the MVP award since pitchers already have an award specifically for them, which is the Cy Young Award. So keeping that in mind, I looked at the lists for the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP awards and found that up to the 2012 season, only two pitchers have won all three awards.

Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers is the most recent of the two pitchers to win all three awards. Verlander won the 2006 American League Rookie of the Year award with a 17-9 record and a 3.63 ERA. He won the 2011 Cy Young and 2011 MVP awards with a 24-5 record and a 2.40 ERA.

Hall of Famer Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers was the first player to achieve the honor of winning all three awards. Newcombe was the 1949 National League Rookie of the Year with a 17-8 record and a 3.17 ERA. He won the 1956 Cy Young and 1956 MVP awards with a 27-7 record and a 3.06 ERA.

Here is a video from the BBWAA dinner on January 22, 2012 where Don Newcombe discusses introducing reigning AL Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander.


So there you have it. Don Newcombe and Justin Verlander are the only two pitchers to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young AND MVP awards.

Sisco Kid.

For Further Reading
- Click Here to see the entire list of players to have won the Rookie of the Year awards from MLB.com
- Click Here to see the entire list of pitchers to have won the Cy Young awards from MLB.com
- Click Here to see the entire list of players to have won the Most Valuable Player awards from MLB.com

C.C. Sabathia, Ron Guidry, Cy Young and 18 Strikeouts

My son and I attended last night’s Yankees-Mariners game and were treated to a gem of a game. C.C. Sabathia continued on his march to another dominating season. In between a few rain delays, Sabathia utterly dominated the Mariners. Sabathia took a perfect game into the 7th inning fanning 14 Mariners while allowing only 1-hit and 3-walks leading the Yankees to a 4-1 victory. This loss was the 17th straight defeat for the Mariners tying the 1926 Boston Red Sox, 1962 Mets, and 1977 Atlanta Braves with 17 losses in a row. This leaves the Mariners four losses short of the American League record of 21 straight losses currently held by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles and six losses shy of the Major League record 23 straight losses held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies. But I digress, back to Sabathia and the Yankees.

With his victory last night, Sabathia is 15-5 with a 2.56 ERA with 3 complete games and 1 shutout in 23 games started. Sabathia has struck out 156 while walking only 45 and allowing 143 hits for a WHIP of 1.15. It’s a shame that Sabathia will probably be overlooked for Cy Young consideration once again. Many of the voters have the misconception that since Sabathia pitches for the Yankees he’s expected to win. As if winning games day in and day out playing on the Yankees is a given. Sure, Sabathia (and every other Yankees starter) is given one of the best lineups in baseball batting behind him but he still has to go out and do the job which in the last three seasons with the Yankees he’s done so at the tune of a 55-20 record. Not to say that the other Cy Young candidates such as Justin Verlander and Jared Weaver aren’t deserving of consideration, but it just seems that Sabathia doesn’t get the accolades he deserves when it comes to Cy Young voting while he plays on the Yankees. We’ll see how it plays out at the end of the season.

In total, three Yankees pitchers (Sabathia, Robertson and Rivera) struck out a total of 18 Mariners tying the franchise record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game. This performance tied the achievement of another Yankees ace. The franchise record was set in 1978 against the California Angels. On June 17, 1978 Ron Guidry struck out 18 California Angels leaving him one strikeout behind the then Major League record of 19 strikeouts which was then held by five players (Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Hugh Daily and Charlie Sweeney). The current record is 20 strikeouts in a 9-inning game and his held by Kerry Wood and Roger Clemens (who achieved the feat twice). During a tumultuous 1978 season for the New York Yankees, Guidry was the constant bright spot for the team. Guidry led the league with a 25-3 record with a 1.78 ERA in 273.2 innings pitched with 16 complete games and 9 shutouts in 35 games. He struck out 248 while walking 72 and allowing 187 hits for a WHIP of 0.946. Guidry was a dominating constant in a season where the Yankees overcame the distractions of internal squabbling and managerial turmoil.

The Yankees had three different managers that season (Billy Martin, Dick Howser and Bob Lemon) and were 14.5 games behind the first place Boston Red Sox in July. By the end of the season, the Yankees were able to tie the Boston Red Sox for first place forcing a one game playoff in Boston which was capped by Bucky Dent’s 3-run homerun for a 5-4 victory and the AL East title. The Yankees would defeat their league nemesis the Kansas City Royals in four games in the AL Championship Series and would defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the 75th World Series. For his part, Guidry would win the AL Cy Young Award unanimously with all 28 first place votes.

Fast forwarding to today from 1978, can C.C. Sabathia continue his dominating season and possibly join Ron Guidry as Yankees pitchers to win the Cy Young? We’ll have to wait until after October to find that out. Until then, I’ll just have to keep watching the big guy game in and game out. On a separate little side note, is there anyone out there that still thinks that the Yankees overpaid for Sabathia?

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for C.C. Sabathia's career statistics from Baseball-Reference.com
- Click Here for Ron Guidry's career statistics from Baseball-Reference.com
- Click Here to access the List of Major League Baseball pitchers with 18 strikeouts or more in one game from Wikipedia.com
- Click Here to access the five longest losing streaks in MLB during the last 50 years from the article Daily list: Long baseball losing streaks dated July 25, 2011 from the Detroit Free Press website

Felix Hernandez 2010 AL Cy Young Winner

It was announced today that Venezolano Felix Hernández is the 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner. The voters recognized that though Hernández finished the season with a 13-12 record he led the league (or was at the top of the league)in most pitching categories. The voters placed emphasis on performance over results since the Mariners had the worst offense in the league and failed to score enough runs during Hernández's starts to win the games he started. It is believed that his record would be different (and more like prior Cy Young Winners) if he had a team like the Yankees or Rays hitting behind him. Regardless if that is true or not, history has been set with Hernández winning the award with the lowest number of wins in a non-strike season (Fernando Valenzuela won the award in 1981 with a 13-7 record).

Hernández is the second Venezolano to win the Cy Young since Johan Santana won the award in 2004 and 2006. In total there have been seven Latinos to have win the award. Here is the list:

1969 Mike Cuellar (AL)(w/ Denny McClain)
1981 Fernando Valenzuela (NL)
1984 Willie Hernández (AL)
1997 Pedro Martínez (NL)
1999 Pedro Martínez (AL)
2000 Pedro Martínez (AL)
2004 Johan Santana (AL)
2005 Bartolo Colon (AL)
2006 Johan Santana (AL)
2010 Felix Hernández (AL)

The breakdown by country is as follows:
Dominican Republic 2
Venezuela 2
Puerto Rico 1
Mexico 1
Cuba 1

Hernández's Cy Young Award is sense of pride for all Venezolanos and I believe it will be front page on every newspaper in Venezuela. Congratulations to Felix Hernández on winning the Cy Young Award.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for the official BBWAA webpage listing the results of the 2010 AL Cy Young Award
- Click Here for the list of past Cy Young Award winners since 1956

Felix Hernández 2010 AL Cy Young Winner

The news came down from the proverbial mountain of the Baseball Writers Association of America and after a big proud pat on the back of many of the Baseball writers, it was announced that Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernández with a 13-12 record is the 2010 American League Cy Young Award Winner. This is the lowest amount of wins a Cy Young starter has won the award with since the strike shortened season of 1981 when Fernando Valenzuela won the award with a 13-7 record.
Hernández is the second Seattle Mariners pitcher to win the award with Randy Johnson being the first in 1995. Though it was believed that the vote would be close between Hernández and New York Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia, this proved not to be so.

Hernández led the voting with 21 of 28 first-place votes for a total of 167 points (21-2-3-1-1). David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays who had a 19-6 record came in second with 4 first-place votes for a total of 111 points (4-15-7-1-0). C.C. Sabathia, with 21-7 record finished with 102 points (3-10-12-2-1). Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox with a 19-9 record finished with 33 points (0-0-1-9-12). Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with a 13-12 record finished the top five with 24 points (0-1-2-6-2).

The reason that I keep listing the records for the runner-ups is that a big issue was made for wins not being the paramount reason for Cy Young consideration. I keep reading about situations like 2005 when Bartolo Colón won the award with a 21-8 record and a 3.48 ERA over Johan Santana 16-7 record with a 2.87 ERA and the 1993 Cy Young race when Jack McDowell won the award with a 22-10 record and a 3.37 ERA over Kevin Appier who had a 18-8 record and a 2.56 ERA. I'm not going to go into those two races aside from just showing them as an illustration of years where wins and losses played a big part in the Cy Young race.

I personally feel that by writers and analysts saying that "wins don't count" are an insult to those pitchers who did win games. Price, Sabathia and Lester all won 19 or more games and let's be truthful, none of those players had any "gimmies". It wasn't as if those guys had wins come easy. Sure they had the potent offenses of the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox (respectively) but at least with Sabathia, I saw him grind out wins, often at times when he or the team didn't have it. Maybe if the writers said that Hernández won the award exclusively based on his performance then I'm OK with that. But for them to say that "wins don't count then I have issue with it. The wins count for Hall of Fame consideration, right? Then why not now. In past posts, I have stated where I stand in terms of this year's race and if you are so inclined, you can check them out here: October 6, 2010 and September 8, 2010.

So, just don't you nice people out there think I'm a sour Yankees fan I do believe that Hernández deserved and earned the Cy Young award here are some impressive stats that were posted by ESPN's Jayson Stark on his Twitter feed earlier today:

Here's a Cy Young stat to consider: Felix had 0.54 ERA in 4 starts vs #Yankees & #RedSox. Price had 3.61 vs them in 7 starts.

And another one:

Another Felix stat: Had a 2.26 ERA in 22 starts vs teams w winning records. Price 2.67 in 21 starts. CC had 3.32 ERA vs winning teams

Trust me, I saw those two games against the Yankees this season. He was flat out dominant.

Another small issue that I have with this year's vote is whether or not will be see a continuing trend in dismissing wins in the Cy Young voting. As seen with the voting for the 2009 Cy Young vote both winners had the then lowest amounts for starters to win the award: Tim Lincecum with 15 and Zack Greinke with 16. Will we see a starter win the Cy Young with less than 13 wins? Who knows, maybe next year will be the year.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for the official BBWAA webpage listing the results of the 2010 AL Cy Young Award
- Click Here for the list of past Cy Young Award winners since 1956

Roy Halladay the 2010 NL Cy Young Winner

It was announced a few minutes ago that Roy Halladay had unanimously won the 2010 National League Cy Young Award with 224 points. Halladay is now the fifth player in the history of the major leagues to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Halladay (who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2003 while with the Toronto Blue Jays) now joins Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens in that exclusive club. According to the BBWAA website:

Halladay was the 13th unanimous choice in NL voting as he received all 32 first-place votes from two writers in each league city to score a perfect 224 points, based on a tabulation system that rewards seven points for first place, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. The BBWAA expanded the Cy Young Award ballot from three to five pitchers this year.

The other finalists for the Cy Young Award were Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals who finished in second-place with 122 points (0-28-3-0-1). Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies came in third with 90 points (0-4-19-8-1). Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves came in fourth with 39 points (0-0-3-13-4). Josh Johnson came in fifth with 34 points (0-0-5-5-9).

Though I predicted that Halladay would win the NL Cy Young Award with my post of October 6, 2010, I thought that Adam Wainwright would have gotten at the very least one first place vote. Both Halladay and Wainwright were evenly matched in wins (Halladay was 21-10/Wainwright was 20-10), ERA (Halladay 2.44/Wainwright 2.42) and strikeouts (Halladay 219/Wainwright 213). Both pitchers were workhorses for their staffs but Halladay had the advantage in innings pitched and complete games. Halladay had 250 Innings pitches and 9 complete games to Wainwright's 230 Innings pitched and 5 complete games. Not to mention that little perfect gem Halladay threw against the Florida Marlins on May 29, 2010.

Halladay became the fourth Philadelphia Phillies pitcher to win the award. Steve Carlton won four Cy Young Awards (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982) with John Denny (1983) and Steve Bedrosian (1987) round out the quartet.

The AL Cy Young voting will be very contentious with those who believe that Felix Hernandez and C.C. Sabathia will be at the head of the pack in terms of votes. That award will be announced on November 18th. Coming up next is the AL and NL Managers of the Year Award.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for the 2010 NL Cy Young Award vote list from the BBWAA.com website
- Click Here for the list of AL and NL Cy Young Award winners as of 1956 from MLB.com

My Predictions for the 2010 AL and NL Year-End Awards

In today's post I wanted to state my predictions for the end of the year awards in MLB.

-AL MVP
The consensus seems to believe that the award will go to Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. I believe that even though he had an amazing season helping the Rangers win their first AL West title since the 1999 season, I don't think that he's the MVP of the league. My choice for MVP is Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.

Similar to last year's vote where Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira were held to a standard where they split votes from each other since they were part of a highly offensive team the same should apply to the Texas Rangers. Hamilton batted a league high .359 with 28 HRs and 100 RBI in a lineup that included a rejuvenated Vladimir Guerrero who hit .300 with 29 HRs and 115 RBI and Nelson Cruz who hit .318 with 22 Hrs and 78 RBI. That's not even taking into account the accomplishments of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young.

On the other hand, Miguel Cabrera hit .328 with 38 HRs and 126 RBI in a lineup whose only bright spot was AL Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Jackson. It can be said that Cabrera was the main reason the Detroit Tigers finised a disappointing 81-81. Texas lost Hamilton's services for the whole month of September and went 14-10 in September. As impressive as Hamilton's season was I think Texas still ends up in a favorable position in both this year's weak AL West and in the standings (as a whole) without Hamilton than Detroit would have without Cabrera.

- NL MVP
This race is a bit more complicated to predict since there was a serious NL Triple Crown race heading into September. The trio of reigning NL MVP Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals at .312 with 48 HRs and 118 RBI, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds at .324 37 HRs and 113 RBI and the NL Batting Champion Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies at .336 with 34 HRs and 117 RBI are the main candidates for the award. Gonzalez thrived as a starter in his third season in the league though his production tailed off somewhat at the end of the season. Pujols continues to cement himself as the best player of this generation with his production at the plate. But I think that Votto will be the winner of the award since his continued rise as one of the National League's premier players was one of the main reasons that the Reds have reached the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

- AL Cy Young
This race will be the breakout race where Sabermetricians will assert their growing influence in the game. I've already discussed the position of the Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez in the CY Young Race. I don't want to beat a dead horse here since it was covered by me in my post Felix Hernandez for AL Cy Young? but I still can't see a pitcher who went 13-12 for a team who lost 101 games and did not pitch in one game that mattered winning the award. Both C.C. Sabathia and David Price pitched in pressure games whose teams depended on their victories on the mound. Both Sabathia at 21-7 with a 3.18 ERA and 237.2 IP with 2 complete games and 197 K's in 34 games started and Price at 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA and 208.2 IP pitched with 2 complete games and 188 K's in 32 games started in playoff type games day in and day out for their respective teams and the teams aces they pitched against. To be fair to Hernandez, he finished the season at 13-12 with a 2.27 ERA in 249.2 IP with 6 complete games and 232 K's in 34 games started.

Though I believe that C.C. Sabathia should win the award, I believe that the voters who are ardent Sabermetricians will vote Hernandez as A.L. Cy Young. In doing so, the voters will be setting a precedent by saying that wins for a starter and games pitches and won in pressure situations do not matter any longer. We'll see how this one plays out.

- NL Cy Young
This award will be awarded along more traditional lines. Both Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies and Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals with their 20-win seasons will garner the majority of the votes. Halladay actually finished at 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and an astounding 250.0 IP with 9 complete games and 219 K's in 33 games started. Wainwright finished at 20-11 with a slightly lower 2.42 ERA in 230.1 IP with 5 complete games and 213 K's in 33 games started. Ubaldo Jimenez at 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA with 221.2 IP with 4 complete games and 214 K's in 33 games started will get some consideration but his first half record of 15-1 outshines his second half record of 4-7. Though the race looks close on paper, I think Roy Halladay joins the ranks of pitchers who have won the Cy Young in both leagues (Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens are the others who have accomplished the feat).

- AL Rookie of the Year
Though Austin Jackson of the Detroit Tigers became one of four players (Shoeless Joe Jackson, Juan Samuel and Hanley Ramirez are the other three) in the history of MLB to have 180 hits, 20 doubles, 10 triples, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs in his first season to accompany his .293 average, I believe that Texas closer Neftali Feliz will win the award. Feliz was handed the ball game in and game out and produced with a 4-3 record with a 2.73 ERA converting 40 of 43 save opportunities striking out 71 while only walking 18 helping the Rangers reach the postseason. Aside from Cliff Lee, Neftali Perez is probably the only other pitcher on the Rangers rotation that people know instantly.

- NL Rookie of the Year
This award has been much discussed at my job between Justin and myself. As of a few weeks ago, I said that Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves would win the award. Heyward hit .277 with 18 HRs and 72 RBI with 128 K's and 91 walks in 520 At-bats. But after reflecting on the numbers of San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey I think he wins the award. Posey finished the season at .305 with 18 HRs and 67 RBI with 55 K's and 30 walks in 406 at-bats (114 less that Heyward). Both players are similar in OPS with Heyward at .849 and Posey at .862 but I think Posey playing the most demanding position in baseball for a team that many people (including myself) predicted would not even make the playoffs let alone win the NL West has stood out more as the NL Rookie of the Year.

-AL Manager of the Year
I've already gave my two cents on this race with my past post The Minnesota Twins Clinch the AL Central...Again!. I think that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire deserves to win the award by piloting the Minnesota Twins to a 94-68 record and the AL Central division title. Gardenhire is a model of consistency that has led to 5 second place finishes in the AL Manager of the Year voting. If what I am reading correctly in some of the articles as of late, he might end up with a sixth second place finish.

An argument is being made for Terry Francona of the Boston Red Sox winning the award. It is amazing how the team was able to finish the season at 89-73 in a demanding AL East with the injuries that decimated the team throughout the year. But I think that the voters will elect Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington as AL Manager of the Year. Washington led the Rangers to a 90-72 record to win the AL West with a team that no one thought would win 90 games let alone the division. I feel bad for Gardenhire who as I said before deserves to finally win the award. But alas he will be the proverbial bridesmaid to Washington as the bride.

- NL Manager of the Year
This one is a bit tougher to predict since Dusty Baker of the Cincinnati Reds at 91-71, Bruce Bochy and the San Francisco Giants at 92-70 and Bud Black of the San Diego Padres at 90-72 over-exceeded all expectations with how their teams played this season. I think Baker wins the award. The Reds rotation does not stack up to the vaunted pitching staff of Bochy's Giants headed by Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Johnathan Sanchez and Barry Zito. I place Baker in a similar category as Bud Black since both teams were not expected to do much but rebuild during the 2010 season. Black will garner serious votes and consideration with how the Padres played this season but I think he falls short with how his team seemed to run out of energy at the end by losing both the NL West and the NL Wild Card to the Giants and Braves respectively.

Well, there you have it folks. In my next post, I'll look back on my pre-season predictions and see how accurate I was in my choices for who would win the divisions and wild cards.

FH

Felix Hernandez for AL Cy Young?

For those of you who know me personally know that I can be both modern and old fashioned when it comes to the game of Baseball. I try to stay up-to-date with the modern methods of statistical and player analysis and comparison but I also try to be old fashioned in thinking in certain areas. One of these areas is with the Cy Young Award and what it means to be a starting pitcher. I believe that an effective starter and a quality start is not one that lasts just 6 innings. No, I believe that a starter should pitch seven or more innings a game in order to be labeled a quality starter. In addition, analysis of said starter should take wins and losses into account. It is in that last sentence that I feel things are changing. Maybe it is me, but I seem to have seen a growing trend among Baseball writers to dismiss wins and losses, especially when it comes to the example of the Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez. (Photo Credit Aaron Reynolds from the Hardball Times website)

For the last few weeks I've been reading how Felix Hernandez is generating Cy Young buzz and consideration with a sub .500 record. Granted, Hernandez is playing on the most under-achieving team of the 2010 season and as of late it seems that any game they win is when he's on the mound. One of the writers who believes that Hernandez is Cy Young worthy is Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.

A few weeks ago, Baker wrote about Hernandez's chances on winning the Cy Young award. As he noted in his article Felix Hernandez selling East Coast on his Cy Young Award credentials. How about the West Coast?, take the wins and losses out of the equation, then Hernandez leads (or is near the top) most of the vital pitching categories for Cy Young. After this his performace a few weeks ago on an Eastern road trip where Hernandez dominated both the Yankees and the Red Sox, Baker is even more confident in his stance of Hernandez being the front-runner for the award. I don't dispute most of what he is saying. But I don't believe that it is (his belief) an East Coast bias and a West Coast disbelief that is going to keep Hernandez from winning the award. No, I believe that his wins and losses are what is going to decide whether or not he wins the award.

Bad enough last year's Cy Young winners for the American and National Leagues won the awards with 16 and 15 wins respectively. At the very least they had a 2-to-1 win-to-loss ratio. It was always my understanding that winning games was the goal for all starters, especially the ace. Now I'm not knocking Hernandez for his losses. He's gone out there game after game and has given his all often a victim of a lack of production from his offense and/or a lack of defense behind him. In a prior post called The Resurgent Seattle Mariners, I highlight how impressive both Hernandez and Cliff Lee looked together before Lee was traded to the Texas Rangers. I'm not a Felix Hernandez hater. Far from it. Trust me, I've watched Hernandez dominate the Yankees in three starts this past season (3-0 and almost logged his fourth complete game against the Yanks in a row). But I do believe that any Cy Young winner should at the very least have an over .500 record and at the least a 2-to-1 win-to-loss ratio.

Currently Hernandez is 11-10 with a 2.30 ERA with a league leading 209 K's in a league leading 219.1 IP with 30 games started having completed five. Hernandez wouldn't be the first pitcher to win the Cy Young on a bad team. Maybe this is an unfair comparison, but Steve Carlton won 27 games during the 1972 season (27-10) while the team in total won 59 games (59-97). He won the Cy Young. Playing for a bad team shouldn't disqualify anyone from winning the award. But the pitcher should (in my opinion) fit the criteria of having over a .500 record and at the least a 2-to-1 win-to-loss ratio.

What can Hernandez do to improve his standing in the eyes of the Cy Young voters? Keep winning games and at the very least try to get his record a few more games over .500. Last season, Hernandez went 15-1 in the second half to vault himself to a record of 19-5 placing 2nd in the Cy Young vote. He has the ability to do it. I'd be more open to change my position if Hernandez finished the season strong. Whether or not the team will let him do so is another story. In the end, I just hate to think that, in this era of metrics that dissect every little statistic and reorganizes them into infinite categories, wins and losses no longer have a bearing on who wins the Cy Young.

What do you think.
FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to see Felix Hernandez's game-by-game log for the 2010 season from MLB.com
- Click Here to see Felix Hernandez's bio page from MLB.com

Cy Young Races are Hot

While the NL Cy Young race is ablaze with viable contenders, the AL Cy Young race is a bit more subdued. For sake of the post, I'll profile the AL first then the NL.

Currently the AL has three frontrunners each with 15 wins. The AL's All-Star Game opening pitcher David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays is 15-5 with a 2.24 ERA in 22 starts with 2 complete games and 1 shutout. He has given up 122 hits, 53 runs (46 earned), struck out 133 while walking 53 for a WHIP of 1.24 in 145.2 innings pitched.

C.C. Sabathia of the New York Yankees is next with a 15-5 record with a 3.14 ERA in 25 starts with 2 complete games. He has given up 168 hits, 68 runs (61 earned), struck out 134 while walking 58 for a WHIP of 1.25 in 174.2 innings pitched.

As much as it pains me to say this, the third pitcher is Carl Pavano of the Minnesota Twins. Pavano is 15-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 24 starts with 5 complete games and 2 shutouts. He has given up 158 hits, 63 runs (61 earned), struck out 97 while walking only 29 for a WHIP of 1.11 in 168 innings pitched.

Rounding out the pack is Boston's Clay Buchholz at 13-5 2.49 ERA, New York's Phil Hughes at 13-5 3.92 ERA, Detroit's Justin Verlander at 13-7 3.72. There is one pitcher that I would consider a dark horse in this year's AL Cy Young Race and that is Oakland A's All-Star Trevor Cahill.

Cahill is currently 12-4 with a 2.56 ERA in 20 starts with 1 complete game and 1 shutout. He has given up 90 hits, 46 runs (38 earned), struck out 76 while walking 46 for a WHIP of 0.98 in 133.2 innings pitched. His consistent starting is one of the main reasons that the Oakland A's are 57-57, 9 games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers. If last year's selections of Kansas City's Zack Greinke as the AL Cy Young with a 16-8 record and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum with 15-7 recotd for the NL Cy Young show that the voters for the Cy Young don't just look at wins and losses. It used to be that the Cy Young award winner consistently had 20-win seasons but the trend has been changed to looking at a myriad of metrics. This is why I say that Cahill is a legit contender to win the Al Cy Young. Now on to the NL.

A few weeks ago I had discussed the NL ERA Race and said that the three contenders for the ERA title (Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson and Adam Wainwright) were the top contenders for the NL Cy Young. Well folks, the field has truly gotten wider since then.

I would still consider Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez to be at the top of the list. After a little slump, Jimenez has seemed to recharge himself. He is currently 17-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 23 starts with 3 complete games and 2 shutouts. Jimenez has given up 108 hits, 46 runs (44 earned) while striking out 143 while walking 64 for a WHIP of 1.11 with 155.1 innings pitched.

Next is the St. Louis Cardinals Adam Wainwright with a record of 17-6 with a 1.99 ERA in 25 starts with 5 complete games and 2 shutouts. He has given up 149 hits, 42 runs (39 earned), striking out 158 and walking 42 for a WHIP of 0.97 in 176.1.

Philadelphia's Roy Halladay has overcome some tough starts in his first season with the Phillies to put himself back in the thick of the Cy Young discussion. Halladay is 14-8 with a 2.34 ERA in 24 starts with 8 complete games (yes, that is correct 8 Complete games) and 3 shutouts. He has allowed 169 hits, 54 runs (48 earned) while striking out 168 and walking an amazing 22 for a WHIP of 1.03 in 185 innings pitched.

Overcoming a string of serious injuries is the Atlanta Braves' Tim Hudson who is currently 14-5 with a 2.13 ERA in 24 starts with 1 complete game. He has allowed 128 hits, 40 runs (39 earned) while striking out 89 while walking 54 for a WHIP of 1.07 in 164.2 innings pitched.

Rounding out the field is St. Louis' Chris Carpenter at 13-3 2.89 ERA, San Diego's Matt Latos 12-5 2.36 ERA and Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto 11-3 3.38 ERA.

A pitcher that has been serious derailed by his team's lack of offensive production is Florida's Josh Johnson. At the time of my last post, Johnson was 10-3 with a league leading 1.62 ERA. Now Johnson is still at 10 wins with a 10-5 records and a 2.27 ERA. I wouldn't discount his Cy Young chances if he makes a late season push getting his win totals near the 15 or 16 win mark. I can't see the voters selecting a pitcher with under 15 wins. I think 15 wins is even too low when you have pitchers winning 19 and in some cases winning 20 or more games. I still say that this year's Cy Young award winners in both leagues will win the award with 20 or more wins. There is still alot of baseball to be played so we'll see how those I profiled pitch down the stretch and I'll see if anyone sneaks up on them.

FH