AL Cy Young Winner?

[Cambridge]

buffalohoya said:

tbird41 said:

You realize that Matsuzaka has pitched really well this year, right? He might not be a Cy Young candidate, but he's massively outperforming all the other free agents in the 2007 class:

13-9, 3.79 ERA, 164IP, 164K, 1.28 WHIP

The real problem for whoever is voted the trophy will be getting past that harpy Suzyn Waldman and prying it from Roger Clemen's bloated fingers. Hell, Tim Wakefield's been a better pitcher this year than Clemens has.

I don't care how he's pitched. The fact is after seeing one or two "gyroballs" in spring training, everyone had him penciled in as the AL Cy Young winner. That's where my beef lies.

I'm not commenting on his performance, but on the ridiculousness of the media saying ANYTHING before games are played. And that goes for every sport.

Basically, I think Steve Phillips should die a quick, painful death. Today.

(See, this is what ESPN does to someone after only a couple hours of SportsCenter).

I have a two word response: Kei Igawa

[ichirohoya]

Bedard has his best stuff tonight! Granted its against the Rangers, but still, he's looking pretty worthy right now.

[TBird41]

ichirohoya said:

Bedard has his best stuff tonight! Granted its against the Rangers, but still, he's looking pretty worthy right now.

11 strikeouts? That's it?

;D

[ichirohoya]

He's now tied a team record for K's in a season. Which- given that its the Orioles- ain't sayin much. However, I'm told that there was a time that a guy named Palmer used to pitch for the Orioles and he was pretty good. So, maybe this is a noteworthy accomplishment.

[TBird41]

ichirohoya said:

He's now tied a team record for K's in a season. Which- given that its the Orioles- ain't sayin much. However, I'm told that there was a time that a guy named Palmer used to pitch for the Orioles and he was pretty good. So, maybe this is a noteworthy accomplishment.

You really have been successful at suppressing memories of Mike Mussina as an Oriole, haven't you?

Anyway, Bedard was the only contender who really stepped up to the challenge last night--Haren continues to come back to the pack ERA wise (he had a 4.10 ERA in July and he's ERA is above 4 in August as well) and Kelvim Escobar gave up five runs. Of course, they both got run support and thus got victories.

Bedard leads all AL pitchers with a VORP of 55.3, Haren is next at 53.1 and Johan is at 52.7.

[Boz]

VORP?

Did you just make that up?

Silly baseball statistics.

Personally, I think Bedard should run away with this thing. His KWIJYBO is 87.43. The next closest guy is a full 20.78 behind that. No one has had a KWIJYBO that high since Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown.

;D

[TBird41]

boz1 said:

VORP?

Did you just make that up?

Silly baseball statistics.

Personally, I think Bedard should run away with this thing. His KWIJYBO is 87.43. The next closest guy is a full 20.78 behind that. No one has had a KWIJYBO that high since Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown.

;D

No one KWIJYBO'd like ol' Mordecai, that's for sure.

[hoyarooter]

boz1 said:

VORP?

Did you just make that up?

Silly baseball statistics.

Personally, I think Bedard should run away with this thing. His KWIJYBO is 87.43. The next closest guy is a full 20.78 behind that. No one has had a KWIJYBO that high since Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown.;D

I nominate this for non-basketball related post of the decade.

[SFHoya99]

The irony (or something similar to irony) is that despite the fact that Mordecai Brown was three-fingered, and that is a kick ass nickname, he actually went more by the nickname "Miner" back then.

Useless trivia.

[ichirohoya]

30 runs? 30 runs? Why can't Bedard pitch every night?

Ole Mordecai never gave up 30.

[hoyarooter]

ichirohoya said:

30 runs? 30 runs? Why can't Bedard pitch every night?

Ole Mordecai never gave up 30.

In a season, perhaps.

[RDF]

ichirohoya said:

30 runs? 30 runs? Why can't Bedard pitch every night?

Ole Mordecai never gave up 30.

When I saw Baltimore gave up 30 runs, I automatically checked to make sure Mussina wasn't traded back to O's and pitched a complete game for them tonight after last 2 outings against Detroit and Anaheim.

[TBird41]

Tonight should be a good night for pitching--Beckett, Santana and Sabathia should all be pitching. And I'm PUMPED to see Santana pitch live at Camden this evening.

[washingtonhoya]

By the way TBird, JJ Putz and his 36 saves, 1.37 ERA 0.69 WHIP, 65-12 K-BB ratio and 4.98 WPA say hi and that he'd like to be included in the discussion.

/homerism

[TBird41]

washingtonhoya said:

By the way TBird, JJ Putz and his 36 saves, 1.37 ERA 0.69 WHIP, 65-12 K-BB ratio and 4.98 WPA say hi and that he'd like to be included in the discussion.

/homerism

Considering that Mariano Rivera didn't win in 2005 with 43 saves (4 blown), 1.38 ERA, 80-18 K-BB ratio and 0.87 WHIP and that was a down year in terms of dominant pitchers (as opposed to this year, where there are quite a few Cy Young worthy pitchers), I don't think he'll be winning this year.

Fausto Carmona, however, continues to pitch his way into the race. and Kelvim Escobar had a real nice outing yesterday. Haren and Bedard, not so much.

[DanMcQ]

Tim Wakefield.

He won't get any votes, but name a better 4th starter this year.

[Boz]

ichirohoya said:

30 runs? 30 runs? Why can't Bedard pitch every night?

Ole Mordecai never gave up 30.

So, what's more embarrassing? A sub-average team like the O's giving up 30 runs in a game? Or a "supposed" World Series contender whose results over the last couple of weeks have included a 0-12 shutout (to those same O's), a 9-18 thrashing and a 0-16 shutout?

We all know the Orioles suck. What's the excuse in the Bronx?

[TBird41]

boz1 said:

ichirohoya said:

30 runs? 30 runs? Why can't Bedard pitch every night?

Ole Mordecai never gave up 30.

So, what's more embarrassing? A sub-average team like the O's giving up 30 runs in a game? Or a "supposed" World Series contender whose results over the last couple of weeks have included a 0-12 shutout (to those same O's), a 9-18 thrashing and a 0-16 shutout?

We all know the Orioles suck. What's the excuse in the Bronx?

All the big name players are getting old and consequently, less good. This applies to pretty much everyone on the pitching staff (except Phil Hughes, who is a rookie) and most of the lineup.

[TBird41]

Back to the point of the thread (aka, NOT talking about the Yankees and Red Sox):

John Lackey turned in a hell of a start yesterday, against the Mariners, pitching 7 innings of shut out ball and picking up his 16th win while striking out five. His ERA is at 3.18 (6th in the AL) and he's tied for the lead in wins.

And where was wannabe Cy Young candidate J.J. Putz when the Mariners were dropping a crucial game in the AL West battle? Nowhere to be seen...

;D

(On a more serious note, I feel like Escobar and Lackey are going hurt each other's candidacy by splitting the Angel vote, since they are both definitely legitimate candidates.)

[ichirohoya]

TBird-- I think you may be right about Escobar and Lackey splitting the Angel vote. But- seeing as how they are involved in a close race, both of them will more than likely make all of their starts through the end of the season. Beckett, for instance, may get rested a little.

also- should either lackey or escobar turn out to be really clutch down the stretch- that might be enough to sway the angel vote to 1 or the other. A few really clutch starts in september with alot on the line and alot of people paying attention could very well win the award.