Despite Win-Loss Record, Felix Hernandez is an Easy Vote For AL Cy Young Award
November 18th 2010 01:32
What really defines which pitcher has had the best season? Does the pitcher need to lead the league in wins? Or does he need to lead his team to the postseason? There are many determining factors into giving out this award but even with the record of 13-12 for the season, Felix Hernandez for the 2010 season in the American League was the most dominant pitcher across the board.
When it comes down to it, there are four candidates for the American League Cy Young Award: Clay Buchholz, David Price, C.C. Sabathia and Felix Hernandez. Of the four, King Felix has the least impressive win-loss record with a 13-12 record. Buchholz’s record was 17-7, Price’s record was 19-6 and Sabathia’s record was 21-7. So this makes Sabathia more qualified for the Cy Young over Hernandez right? Wrong. For the most part the win-loss record stat is indicative of the team the pitcher pitches on.
There are other stats that justify this point that may weigh more on voters’ minds rather than solely who won the most games. Hernandez led all of baseball with an ERA of 2.27 which means he allowed the least amount of runs of any pitcher in the game. Buchholz had an ERA of 2.33 and Price’s ERA was 2.72. Sabathia’s ERA was 3.18 which wasn’t even one of the fifth best in his own league. As for strikeouts which are another stat that determines how dominant a pitcher is, of these four pitchers, Hernandez struck out the most batters with 232. C.C. struck out 197, Price struck out 188 and Buchholz struck out a modest 120. As for WHIP which is walks and hits allowed per innings pitched, King Felix led the other three candidates with a WHIP of 1.06, while Sabathia and Price had the WHIP of 1.19 and Buchholz’s was 1.20.
So while Felix Hernandez has a better ERA and WHIP than the other Cy Young candidates and has more strikeouts, his win-loss record shouldn’t diminish that he was the American League’s most dominant pitcher throughout the season. Just because the Seattle Mariners gave him the least amount of run support of the four candidates doesn't mean it should take away from Hernandez's accomplishments. His individual stats indicative of his performance such as ERA, WHIP and Strikeouts are superior to the rest of the competition. Win-loss record is an indicator of the performance as a team. The most important stat that shows how Hernandez had very little run support is that of the 12 games he lost, 8 of them were when he allowed 3 earned runs or less. Of King Felix’s 9 no-decisions, 7 of them were when he allowed 2 earned runs or less. If Felix Hernandez had the luxury of playing for the New York Yankees like C.C. Sabathia this season, he could have won 25 games. Hernandez was second in Major League Baseball with 249.2 innings pitched, one full inning behind the National League Cy Young Award Winner Roy Halladay.
When it comes down to it, there are four candidates for the American League Cy Young Award: Clay Buchholz, David Price, C.C. Sabathia and Felix Hernandez. Of the four, King Felix has the least impressive win-loss record with a 13-12 record. Buchholz’s record was 17-7, Price’s record was 19-6 and Sabathia’s record was 21-7. So this makes Sabathia more qualified for the Cy Young over Hernandez right? Wrong. For the most part the win-loss record stat is indicative of the team the pitcher pitches on.
There are other stats that justify this point that may weigh more on voters’ minds rather than solely who won the most games. Hernandez led all of baseball with an ERA of 2.27 which means he allowed the least amount of runs of any pitcher in the game. Buchholz had an ERA of 2.33 and Price’s ERA was 2.72. Sabathia’s ERA was 3.18 which wasn’t even one of the fifth best in his own league. As for strikeouts which are another stat that determines how dominant a pitcher is, of these four pitchers, Hernandez struck out the most batters with 232. C.C. struck out 197, Price struck out 188 and Buchholz struck out a modest 120. As for WHIP which is walks and hits allowed per innings pitched, King Felix led the other three candidates with a WHIP of 1.06, while Sabathia and Price had the WHIP of 1.19 and Buchholz’s was 1.20.
So while Felix Hernandez has a better ERA and WHIP than the other Cy Young candidates and has more strikeouts, his win-loss record shouldn’t diminish that he was the American League’s most dominant pitcher throughout the season. Just because the Seattle Mariners gave him the least amount of run support of the four candidates doesn't mean it should take away from Hernandez's accomplishments. His individual stats indicative of his performance such as ERA, WHIP and Strikeouts are superior to the rest of the competition. Win-loss record is an indicator of the performance as a team. The most important stat that shows how Hernandez had very little run support is that of the 12 games he lost, 8 of them were when he allowed 3 earned runs or less. Of King Felix’s 9 no-decisions, 7 of them were when he allowed 2 earned runs or less. If Felix Hernandez had the luxury of playing for the New York Yankees like C.C. Sabathia this season, he could have won 25 games. Hernandez was second in Major League Baseball with 249.2 innings pitched, one full inning behind the National League Cy Young Award Winner Roy Halladay.
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