MLB: Handicapping the 2010 NL Cy Young Race
We have already taken a look at the American League and National League MVP contenders so now it is time to have a look at how the Cy Young contenders are for this year. First up is the National League.
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals – The National League Cy Young Award is Wainwright’s to lose right now. He is currently tied with Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez for the most wins in all of baseball with 17. He is just behind Josh Johnson for the ERA lead and also ranks second in the league in innings. Wainwright also leads the league in WHIP and ranks behind only Roy Halladay in complete games.
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies – Halladay currently leads the league in strikeouts and innings and has been consistently good to dominant throughout the season. After posting a so-so 9-7 record to start the season Halladay has rallied to win 5 of his last 6 decisions and currently sits third in the league with 14 wins. Halladay is a good enough pitcher to reel off another six or seven straight wins and be a major player in the Cy Young race, but unless he closes the gap between he and Wainwright in wins and/or ERA it will be tough for him to overtake him in the balloting.
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies – Two-and-a-half months into the season it was almost a foregone conclusion that Jimenez was going to win the Cy Young Award after going 13-1 with a 1.15 ERA through his first 14 starts of the season. Since then he has gone 4-2 with a 5.17 ERA as the Rockies have quietly fallen out of contention in the West. He still remains atop the league with 17 wins but he has seen the likes of Wainwright and Halladay pass him in ERA and strikeouts. He has pitched better his past couple of times out and there still is time for him to put together another run to get back into contention, but with the Rockies fading he will not have the luxury that Wainwright and Halladay do of pitching in meaningful games down the stretch.
Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins – Johnson leads the league with a 1.97 ERA and has arguably been the most consistent pitcher this season, however, he only has ten wins to show for his efforts this season which ranks him 15th in the league. Voters tend to vote for pitchers at or near the top of the league in wins and he is currently seven off the pace set by Wainwright and Jimenez. He also ranks fifth in the league in strikeouts and is third in WHIP.
Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves – Hudson’s career has been born again this season and is a huge reason the Braves sit atop the National League East. He currently ranks fourth in the league in wins and is third in ERA. However his rate of 4.76 strikeouts per 9 innings is going to severely hurt his candidacy. He should have the wins and ERA but with guys like Halladay and Wainwright having comparable ERAs and win totals it is going to be hard for him to win over voters when is likely going to finish the season with more than 100 fewer strikeouts.
Mat Latos, San Diego Padres – Latos is sort of in the same boat as Hudson. He rates seventh in the league in wins and is fifth in ERA but he does not have the numbers in other categories to seriously contend with guys like Wainwright and Halladay.
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals – He is currently third in innings and fourth in wins. Carpenter is a bit of a dark horse right now as he has a track record in the past of being able to run off a string of 8 to 10 starts where he simply dominates his opponents. However, it seems unlikely that he is going to steal away votes from Wainwright this season unless he has a stretch of two or three awful starts and comes back to the pack a bit.
