Friday, September 23, 2011

More Award Talk: Cy Young

I am going to start with the Cy Young's first because the pitching has really interested me this season. Since the mid-season report some things have changed a bit.

AL
In the AL Ted Timlin is still having a fantastic season. Still only one loss to go along with his 20 wins now. He still is and should be a favorite to win the award. In some of my preferred statistics like K/BB and K/9 head of the other front runners. Ramiro Cabrera is crushing the world in K/BB this season. Almost a top five season ever. I don't consider Cabrera a top five though despite leading that and one of my other favorite stats BB/9. Maybe he should be though maybe I'll dig deep later on him. Maybe.
Now to the rising contender and maybe new front runner "Big" Dick Randall. He has been a mode consistency this season. Back on 8/30 he let up 6 runs. That was his low point this season. He followed that up with two straight no runs games. When he takes the hill all Detroit has to do most of the time is score 3 or more runs to get the win. He has 6 no decisions so far this season and in all 6 of them he let up 3 or less runs. Five times he let up 2 or less. Four times 1 run or less. And once with out letting up a single run. If he had just a little bit of run support and a better bullpen he would have more wins than everybody in the world. Or maybe if he could go deeper into the game that would change a bit. He is only averaging about 6.5 inning a start. Randall is the AL leader in my favorite pitching stat that we can find OPS against(.591 vs Timlin .608). To me this is the most important stat. It is very telling in how a pitcher preforms overall. He is also the AL leader in ERA, second in WHIP, 5th in K/BB, 3rd in K/9 and 12th in BB/9.
One thing that does bother me about these to guys is the lack of innings. Randall does make the top ten but Timlin is out of the top 25 altogether. Timlin has not gone more then 7 innings all season and averages under 6 a game. In all though, these two guys are the front runners for the AL. I don't know where my vote is going to go yet but I can bet you it is going to be for Lyle Moran because why on earth would I not vote for my own guy. I think you all should vote for him too.

NL

The NL may have even a closer race with more option to choose from. At the mid-season report I had Floyd Mullen as my easy pick. I don't believe that to be a true statement anymore. Russell "The Phylloxera" Reitz has really picked up his game(really the number two pick how is Mike Lyon Looking now). Clay Henry is right on the heels of Reitz for my next choice. In the wins/loses category there is no front runner as the top tier are all about the same to me. Mullen sub 2 ERA would steal votes right off the bat but as stated a few times before ERA can be misleading. The three mention are 123 in the ERA race 1,2,4 in the WHIP race Angel Cueto coming in the third spot there. In OPS against, Mullen has a huge advantage with a .508. Reitz hold a .538 followed by Henry's .591. So right there you see that to me Reitz and Henry better make up for tht gap some how. Boy does Reitz find a way to bridge the gap with his NL record setting season. What record you ask? His K/BB rate is the highest ever in the NL. Second only to the great "Sir" William Haselman, who set the record back in season 7. Mullen falls in at ten on this seasons list. Clay is 19th. K/9 Reitz is 3rd Mullen 12th and Clay is... Not on the list. Reitz also leads BB/9 while Mullen is 13th and Clay 12th. All three are in the top ten in innings pitched. I think that after the closer look at the numbers my vote is going to go to Reitz. The is difference between he and Mullen in K/BB is just too much to go against. Looks like maybe a passing of the torch might be happening this season.