Call The Cy Young Races Off

You never know what's gonna happen when you're a pitcher. You could go on a two-month slump out of nowhere. Steve Blass disease could rear its ugly head. You could suddenly become close personal friends with Dr. James Andrews. There are no sure things, really, but if you're Cliff Lee or Brandon Webb, you can probably start making space on your shelf for a Cy Young Award.

Webb gave up one run on six hits against the Braves yesterday, boosting his record to 17-4 and lowering his ERA to 2.88. He's head and shoulders above everyone in the NL in wins and at the moment trails only Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, and Johan Santana in the ERA race. But not by much, and more important to the win-crazy BBWAA writers, none of those guys are going to match his win totals when it's all said and done. What's more, two of those three are certain to be watching the playoffs from home this October, and Santana's Mets stand a worse chance of playing in the postseason right now than Webb's Diamondbacks. Out of all of the challengers I think Linceucm poses the biggest threat in that two stellar months for him might have older voters reminiscing about Steve Carlton wining 27 games for a pathetic Phillies team in 1972, but this is really Webb's award to lose at this point.

Cliff Lee was even more impressive yesterday, shutting out the Blue Jays over eight innings. Lee is leading the AL in wins and ERA, and none of the three guys trailing him in the latter category -- Justin Duchscherer, Roy Halladay, or Felix Hernandez -- are playing for winning teams, ensuring that only Lee truly has a shot at both titles. Yet somehow Lee seems less of a lock for a Cy Young than Webb does, for the simple reason that Francisco Rodriguez is likely to break the saves record for the best team in baseball. AL voters haven't given a Cy Young to a closer since Dennis Eckersley got it in 1992 -- and the early season K-Rod buzz is certainly dying down -- but the save, she is a seductive stat, and to the extent Lee falters down the stretch, the writers have a fallback option in Rodriguez.

But it's not a smart option, because Lee, as Webb, have been dominant this year. And though it's only August 11th, we haven't had a a clearer choice for Cy Young this early in recent memory.

Latest MLB Photos

New York Mets' pitcher Pedro Martinez pumps his fist after ending the Pittsburgh Pirates at-bat during the third inning of the Major League Baseball game Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit, center, loses control of the ball as New York Mets' Carlos Delgado, right, crosses home plate while umpire Bill Hohn looks on during the third inning of the Major League Baseball game Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Zach Duke pitches during the second inning of a Major League Baseball game against the New York Mets Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' Pedro Martinez pitches during the second inning of a Major League Baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets' David Wright, left, is greeted by Carlos Delgado after he Wright hit a three-run homer during the first inning of the Major League Baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Chicago Cubs' Ronny Cedeno hits a two RBI double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, in Chicago. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 6-2. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood works against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, in Chicago. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 2-6. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

St. Louis Cardinals' Joe Mather hits an RBI double against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Chicago Cubs' Aramis Ramirez congratulates Alfonso Soriano after Soriano scored on an RBI single by Derrek Lee against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

St. Louis Cardinals' Ryan Ludwick throws his batting glove into his helmet after grounding out during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-12-2008 @ 2:40PM

Ari Collins said...

Nice post, but two errors, one major, one minor:

The minor one is that you misspelled "Lincecum" at one point.

The major one is that the Cy Young was given to Gagne in '03.

Thanks for the thoughts. Now what about those MVP races?