Who should win Cy Young??
 

I need some help deciding which of these three pitchers you would choose for the NL Cy Young.

1. SP 18-8 3.44 31starts, 188IP, 73BB/118K's 1.32WHIP, .250AVG, .274BABIP, 2CG, 1SHO (Leads the league in Wins, team finished 87-75)

2. SP 16-9 3.12 34starts, 230IP, 76BB/161K's 1.22WHIP, .242AVG, .275BABIP, 2CG, 1SHO (Leads the league in IP, team is division winner)

3. SP 14-6 2.91 30starts, 192IP, 51BB/218K's, 1.08WHIP, .222AVG .282BABIP, 0CG, 0SHO (2nd in ERA & K's, team is division winner)

The AI is choosing this reliever:

CP 3-4 51/54Sv's 82Apperances, 22BB/51K's, 1.04WHIP, .212AVG, .244BABIP
(Leads the league in saves on a team that went 80-82)

I'd like to know your thoughts on two things:

1. Who deserves the award if you were voting

2. Who would win the award in real life with these stats.

Thanks

Tough call, but I would give it to #3.

I would agree and say #3. Care to share who these pitchers are?

I'd say #3 as well... Excellent K/BB Ratio, good ERA, the fact that he doesn't have as many decisions isn't necessarily his fault (poor run support (RS), weak bullpen, come-from-behind offense, etc).

#3

Agreed - I would vote for #3 as well.

I didn't want to share their names at first because I thought it might bias people's thoughts. Here they are and by the way it's the end of 2017 using MLB quickstart

Pitcher #1 - Bret Cecil of the San Francisco Giants

Pitcher #2 - Matt Garza of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Pitcher #3 - Tim Lincecum of the Pittsburgh Pirates (on my team)

I was voting for #3 as well.

My question is how do you think a media voting would go? Us stat guys who play this game can see fairly clearly that pitcher #3 had the best season in terms of value to his team. Who would the media vote for? I would think #2 since he won more games and was on just as good of a team.

The winner by unanimous decision: #3: Tim "The Freak" Lincecum. It's funny you know, looking at his K and BB, that was the first name that popped into my head. :)

IRL I think #2 would probably win because he was the only one to pitch over 200 innings and proved to be the only workhorse of the bunch, which is the modern perception of an ace.

3 just look at Greinke last yr wins only matter when u r on a good team era and k's and opp avg r what matters

I disagree with you on that. If you look at the history of the award, only one Starter has ever won the Cy Young winning less that 15 games (81 NL - Valenzuela 13-7 2.48era) It would be hard for media members to vote for a 14 win starter IMO even if he may be the best pitcher of the 3.

I would say 3 also. I so wanted to say 2 because of innings pitched but his stats just didnt add up.

The Closer should win it, none of the 3 starters put up numbers (including wins) to win the award, in the end they'd probably all end up splitting their votes and the Closer with 51 saves on an 80 win team would win it

#3 should win it, with the closer finishin 2nd. #3 had the most K's and fewest walks by a wide margin. He also has a higher BABIP, which shows that his other stats are not based on luck. Even though he *only* has 14 wins, they are against only 6 losses.

IRL, I would think either #1 or the closer would likely win it. Most often, the Cy Young is given to the SP with the highest win total (although, there are a few exceptions over the year). If not, then I think that GriffeyIn98 is right, the 3 SP would spilt votes and the Closer would end up with the most total points and the award.

I would give it to the closer as well.

You forgot to mention the closer's ERA. #3 though, pending a ridiculously low ERA for that closer.

Sorry about that. His era was 1.91

Easily #3, then #2, and finally #1 waaaaaaay back in the distance.


Relievers don't have any business winning the Cy Young. I use the custom award to hand out the "Fireman of the Year" to the best relievers.

You don't list IP for the closer. If he was over 100 innings and pitching every second game with those numbers, I would vote for him. If he's pitching 75-85 innings in his 82 appearances, that reduces his value and I would take a starter.

Those four extra starts for #2 = about three weeks of baseball. If they represent a day here or there scattered through the season, I would pick #3. But if those four starts mean #3 missed a big chunk of the pennant race, I would pick #2.

Great question though.