Lincecum wins NL Cy Young

He edged out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. (via BTF)

2 months ago Travis G 6 comments 0 recs |

Comments

I’m glad they’re going to get rid of the unnecessary off-days in the ALDS and ALCS, even though it benefitted the Yankees a lot this year. Those off-days are killer and also if a team has depth in their rotation they should be rewarded for it.

More importantly, can they please please please expand the ALDS to 7 games? It’s way too much of a crapshoot at 5 games, and I don’t see why it should be any different than the other series’.

by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Nov 19, 2009 10:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think you posted in the wrong place.

This is the NL Cy Young post :)

by phonty on Nov 19, 2009 10:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't have a problem with Lincecum

but I think the system is flawed when the person with the most 1st place votes doesn’t win the award. And that one of the top three pitchers wasn’t even on 2 ballots (apparently 2 voters put Javier Vasquez instead of Carpenter).

Sorry, but with every award, I start to hate the BWWAA more and more, from the MVP to the Hall of Fame. I have yet to find a baseball writer that’s ever played a sport, much less baseball, and they’re deciding who the best players are in baseball?

by phonty on Nov 19, 2009 11:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Keep in mind, I'm not saying Lincecum shouldn't have won

just that I have a problem with the Baseball Writers Association of America and the voting processes used in awards and Hall of Fame selections.

by phonty on Nov 19, 2009 11:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's a step in the right direction for the BWWAA

at least head and shoulders above the HOF committee in their voting analysis currently . A few years ago, there was zero chance that a 15-game winning pitcher would receive the CYA. It shows that writers are realizing that the WIN stat alone is not the most telling of how good a pitcher really is.

by Scooby Snacks on Nov 20, 2009 12:02 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I saw a hilarious comment on Yahoo

about how it was ridiculous that Lincecum won because the most important stat in pitching is wins because “they help the team the most.” Um, no. A pitcher cannot guarantee a win. That’s the team’s job. The team helps itself by winning. A good pitcher puts his team in position to win by having a low ERA.

Lincecum posted 26 quality starts in 2009 in 32 games started. He only had 15 wins because of the poor offense that played behind him. To contrast, Adam Wainwright had 25 quality starts in 34 games started, but won 19 games. Chris Carpenter had 22 quality starts in 28 games started and won 17 games.

Wainwright had a higher ERA (2.63) and significantly higher WHIP (1.21) than the other two, so I would give him my third place vote right away despite his 19-8 record and 212 strikeouts.

Lincecum went 15-7 with 261 strikeouts, a 2.48 ERA, and a 1.05 WHIP. Carpenter went 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA, 144 strikeouts, and a 1.01 WHIP. It’s really a close call. Carpenter has more wins in fewer starts and a much better winning percentage, but that can easily be attributed to the St. Louis lineup featuring the monster that is Albert Pujols. Carpenter edges out Lincecum in ERA and WHIP, but Lincecum was far more dominant in terms of strikeouts. Strikeouts don’t matter very much to me as long as a pitcher gets the job done, but you can’t overlook such a wide gap. On top of that Lincecum actually pitched the whole season, and the guy is only 25. It could have gone either way, and either of them would have deserved it, although Wainwright winning would have bothered me. It’s odd that he got both the most first place votes (12, from the win-obsessed sportswriters) and the most third place votes (15, from those who noted that he had a worse ERA and WHIP than the other two). It was definitely a close vote, and one for the ages, although I wonder whether any of those pitchers could have posted the same numbers in the AL.

by YankeesRock on Nov 21, 2009 1:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs