NL CY YOUNG

[JohnAndrew]

7 strong...that'll do. Nice game Dickey!

[a-train10]

Not bad! Kept his ERA right where it was, too bad he won't get the W (AGAIN) tonight.

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by a-train10

Not bad! Kept his ERA right where it was, too bad he won't get the W (AGAIN) tonight.

No surprises there...tough enough with that offense, doesn't help to go head-to-head with Cliff Lee!

[calculusdork]

Still Dickey's award to lose ... I'd say Gonzalez needs to throw a shutout in his next start to keep himself in the running.

[Swingman]

Originally Posted by calculusdork

Still Dickey's award to lose ... I'd say Gonzalez needs to throw a shutout in his next start to keep himself in the running.

Saturday in Milwaukee. We'll see what happens! Tomorrow is his bday so that should be some fun

[JohnAndrew]

Does anyone listen to WFAN in New York City? I've been trying to HQ audio of this for a while now:

[JohnAndrew]

Lohse quietly shutting down the Astros tonight...ERA all the way down to 2.74.

[Swingman]

Originally Posted by JohnAndrew

Lohse quietly shutting down the Astros tonight...ERA all the way down to 2.74.

You said though JA, the ASTROS hahahaha

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by Swingman

You said though JA, the ASTROS hahahaha

Hey, I didn't say it was the toughest assignment in the world LOL

[WilsonValdez]

LOHSE LOHSE LOHSE LOHSE Lohseeeeeeeeeee!!!! The most deserving Cy Young candidate and BESTEST PITCHER IN THE LEAGUE!

[yanksfan1]

the braves have won like the last 21 or so games that medlen has started. thats fairly impressive and he has a 1.51 era to go with that and 9+ k/9ip as a starter

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by yanksfan1

the braves have won like the last 21 or so games that medlen has started. thats fairly impressive and he has a 1.51 era to go with that and 9+ k/9ip as a starter

It's getting silly now. Six earned runs in 70.2 IP as a starter? Pffffffft.

Kris is really gonna mix things up in the voting. He's at 125 IP and is tentatively scheduled for two more starts. I'd expect him to get a lot of 3rd, 4th and 5th place votes and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up 1st on a few ballots. This is gonna wreak havoc for anyone not named Dickey IMO.

A little bit of history, just for some perspective...FROM ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: Medlen is the first pitcher since earned runs became official in 1912 to have at least 8 wins, an ERA of 0.76 or lower, and average at least 1 strikeout per inning over a 10-start span.

[calculusdork]

Originally Posted by JohnAndrew

It's getting silly now. Six earned runs in 70.2 IP as a starter? Pffffffft.

Kris is really gonna mix things up in the voting. He's at 125 IP and is tentatively scheduled for two more starts. I'd expect him to get a lot of 3rd, 4th and 5th place votes and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up 1st on a few ballots. This is gonna wreak havoc for anyone not named Dickey IMO.

A little bit of history, just for some perspective...FROM ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: Medlen is the first pitcher since earned runs became official in 1912 to have at least 8 wins, an ERA of 0.76 or lower, and average at least 1 strikeout per inning over a 10-start span.

It's really too bad he couldn't have gotten a couple more starts in there ... would just need 162 IP to qualify as ERA leader.

So who is "unofficially" in the running for Cy Young at this point? Here's my list of who I think actually has a chance:

Dickey (obvious)
Gonzalez (obvious)
Kershaw (obvious)
Kimbrel (best reliever stats)
Medlen (dark horse)

I left Lohse, Cueto, Hamels, and Cain off the list because some combination of Dickey/Gonzalez/Kershaw has better stats than all of those guys. I left Chapman off because (1) Kimbrel has better numbers, and (2) he's hurt, and under those circumstances I think there's only room for one reliever on the list.

Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying ... all those guys I left off the list will get votes (maybe even some 2nd/3rd place votes). But my list contains who I think actually has any chance to win.

Thoughts?

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by calculusdork

It's really too bad he couldn't have gotten a couple more starts in there ... would just need 162 IP to qualify as ERA leader.

So who is "unofficially" in the running for Cy Young at this point? Here's my list of who I think actually has a chance:

Dickey (obvious)
Gonzalez (obvious)
Kershaw (obvious)
Kimbrel (best reliever stats)
Medlen (dark horse)

I left Lohse, Cueto, Hamels, and Cain off the list because some combination of Dickey/Gonzalez/Kershaw has better stats than all of those guys. I left Chapman off because (1) Kimbrel has better numbers, and (2) he's hurt, and under those circumstances I think there's only room for one reliever on the list.

Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying ... all those guys I left off the list will get votes (maybe even some 2nd/3rd place votes). But my list contains who I think actually has any chance to win.

Thoughts?

It is too bad about Medlen, but I believe the Braves wanted to limit him to 160 innings this year a la Strasburg, so he likely would never have gotten there anyway. On the flip side...look who the Braves have for the playoffs! In many ways, I believe the Braves managed Medlen's workload far better than the Nats managed Strasburg's, although I suppose you can argue that Washington wouldn't be where they are today without Stephen starting early and often.

I like your list of candidates...I would personally add a second dark horse in Kyle Lohse. I think the ship has probably sailed for Hamels at this point, but Cain could possibly make things a little interesting if he has a couple more starts like he did last night.

It's do-or-die for Johnny Cueto this afternoon...a poor performance against the cellar-dweller Cubbies will certainly seal his fate. That said, maybe a bottom-feeder is what he needs to get back on track? It might be too little, too late at this point -- let's see if he can go out there and dominate.

[Swingman]

Not exactly the best lineup today to support Cueto..


Xavier Paul LF
Miguel Cairo 1B
Henry Rodriguez 2B
Todd Frazier 3B
Chris Heisey RF
Denis Phipps CF
Ryan Hanigan C
Didi Gregorius SS
(Johnny Cueto P)

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by Swingman

Not exactly the best lineup today to support Cueto..


Xavier Paul LF
Miguel Cairo 1B
Henry Rodriguez 2B
Todd Frazier 3B
Chris Heisey RF
Denis Phipps CF
Ryan Hanigan C
Didi Gregorius SS
(Johnny Cueto P)

This must be a sick joke. I vaguely recognize, like, four of those names. Miguel Cairo still plays ball?!

[Swingman]

Originally Posted by JohnAndrew

This must be a sick joke. I vaguely recognize, like, four of those names. Miguel Cairo still plays ball?!

That's what I said.. Last I heard Henry Rodriguez retired 15 years ago also HA! Atleast Todd Frazier is decent.

[peafour]

Originally Posted by Swingman

Not exactly the best lineup today to support Cueto..


Xavier Paul LF
Miguel Cairo 1B
Henry Rodriguez 2B
Todd Frazier 3B
Chris Heisey RF
Denis Phipps CF
Ryan Hanigan C
Didi Gregorius SS
(Johnny Cueto P)

It'll be alright, they're playing the Cubs, with good ol' What's-His-Name starting.

[JohnAndrew]

Cueto did it.

He finally pitched a 1-2-3 first inning.

[jimssouvenirs]

It really is unfortunate for Medlen... if he could get even 5 more starts at remotely similar stats he would be the obvious choice. His WAR is 5th in the NL for pitchers with over 120 innings pitched. First 11 starts of the season? Better than ANY first 11 starts by ANY pitcher in MLB history. He's one team win away from being tied for having the longest streak of that nature in MLB history as wel.

That being said, Dickey deserves it for his overall body of work this year and SHOULD win it, but Gio Gonzalez will probably win it as long as the Nationals go on to win the Division.

[JohnAndrew]

Cueto puts 4 Cubs on base in the second inning and escapes unscathed...he is basically Houdini

[JohnAndrew]

Well, it hasn't been pretty, but Cueto is getting it done. He's putting a lot of runners on and the Cubs -- surprise! -- can't get anyone across the plate.

As expected, the Reds' offense is basically nonexistent.

[JohnAndrew]

The Reds decide to throw Cueto a bone and provide some offense (for once). Easiest day at work ever for Votto? Pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the 7th, pinch-ran for by the pitcher Mike Leake(?)

Just another day at the office!

[Swingman]

Good game for Cueto and Berken also before the bullpen blew the game open..

[JohnAndrew]

Here's a great Jayson Stark article on ESPN today about the race: There's no pitcher better than Craig Kimbrel in National League - ESPN

He breaks down the Dickey-Gonzalez-Kershaw race but ultimately goes with Kimbrel. Admittedly, I've never seen a lot of Craig's "unhittability" stats that he throws around -- it's very impressive stuff. That said, I'm one of the folks who's more inclined to go with a starter for the Cy. And as long as Kimbrel is in contention, I don't know how you can overlook Medlen, who's ERA is practically as sick as Kimbrel's (1.51 vs. 1.10) but has thrown over twice as many innings.

Thoughts? AL version as well for those who are curious: Justin Verlander deserves the AL Cy Young award - ESPN