Some years, it's easy to be a Cy Young voter. Those are the years a Justin Verlander goes 24-5, leads the world in every category except most resin bags tossed, and makes it simple.
But then there are years like this.
If you're a National League Cy Young voter in 2012, there's way too much you have to decide on. Way too much.
Would you vote for a knuckleballer (R.A. Dickey)? Would you vote for a guy who is rarely even described as the ace on his own team (Gio Gonzalez)? Would you vote for a reliever? And if you would, which one (Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman)?
These are the kinds of questions that have long made award voting America's foremost cause of migraines among the baseball-writing portion of the populace. So let's see if we can help those voters out -- with a look at this year's pressing NL Cy Young questions:
Starter or reliever?
Some people think no relief pitcher should ever win a Cy Young. Ever. And by "some people" I mean, for the most part, the entire planet.
It's now been 20 years since the great Dennis Eckersley won the '92 Cy Young award. In the two decades since, exactly one reliever (Eric Gagne, in 2003) has won a Cy Young -- and only four other relievers have even gotten a first-place vote. In 20 years.
So you don't need to be a Maddux brother to see this has somehow evolved into a starting pitcher's award. But it doesn't have to be. In fact, as my friends in the Baseball Writers' Association told me in 2010 when they shot down my proposal for a new relief pitchers' award, the rules clearly say we can vote for a reliever -- and we should, they told me vociferously, if we think a reliever deserves it.
Well, I'll tell you (and them) right now: I think this is one of those years.
Has any starting pitcher in the National League been even remotely as dominating as Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman? That answer, beyond dispute, is no. And this hasn't been just routine domination. This has been historic levels of domination -- particularly in the case of Kimbrel, who has had possibly the most dominant, overpowering season any NL closer has ever had.
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So why should any voters feel compelled to vote for a starter in a season like this, just because there are 20 years of newfound tradition that say they should? I ran that question past one longtime dominating starter -- ESPN's own Curt Schilling -- and he laughed at the idea that starters "deserve" to be considered first.
"I have ZERO bias one way or the other," Schilling wrote, via the miracle of email. "Cy Young is for the BEST pitcher, not most valuable or anything else. When anyone in this game does something that hasn't been done in 112 years [as Kimbrel has], it bears noticing. Relievers, in my opinion, HAVE to have insanely dominant seasons given that they throw 150+ fewer innings than a starter. [But] 'tradition' is something I feel we need to move farther and farther from."
So why not start that movement now? I think that time has come. But the next big question is: If this is the year to vote for a reliever, then don't you have to determine …
Which reliever?
For a long time this summer, I was driving the Aroldis Chapman For Cy Young bandwagon. Not anymore.
Not that Chapman hasn't been awesome, other than in his last couple of outings before the Reds shut him down with shoulder fatigue. Heck, he's been ridiculous.
As in … he's faced 262 hitters and given up hits to only 34 of them. … He's struck out 119 hitters in 67 2/3 innings (15.8 per nine innings). … And the poor mortals who have to bat against him have mostly had no chance, as evidenced by a .143 AVG/.221 OBP/.232 SLG slash line that indicates he's caused the best hitters alive to hit like Bronson Arroyo.
But he's still been no Craig Kimbrel. Ready for Kimbrel's historic credentials? Fasten your seat belts. (Note: To rank Kimbrel's place in history, I compared him only to pitchers -- starters or relievers -- who worked at least 50 innings in a season.)
Strikeouts: 105 in 57 1/3 IP, the best strikeout ratio ever (16.5/9 IP)
Opponent AVG.: .128, the lowest against any pitcher since 1900
Opponent OPS: .368, the lowest against any pitcher in the expansion era
WHIP: 0.68, best by any National League reliever since 1900
Percentage of hitters struck out: 49.5 pct., best in live-ball era
Strikeout-to-hit ratio: 105 whiffs, 25 hits (4.2), best of all time
And then there's the other stuff. With runners on base, he's faced 71 hitters -- and allowed a hit to four of them. … With runners in scoring position, he's faced 29 hitters -- and given up a hit to one of them. … Of his past 125 outs, 81 of them have come on strikeouts. … He's had eight outings in which he struck out all three hitters he's faced -- more than Chapman, Fernando Rodney, Jonathan Papelbon, Rafael Soriano, Jim Johnson and Jason Motte combined. … And have we mentioned this man has whiffed 11 more hitters for the season than his rotation amigo, Tim Hudson -- but in 107 1/3 fewer innings?
"He's a special guy," one NL scout said of Kimbrel. "When you go and watch him pitch, it's absolutely amazing. The hitters can't swing and hit the ball. It's that simple. They can't time him. You see guys try to cheat or do everything they can do to hit him. They can't do it."
Looking for a good definition of a Cy Young? "The hitters can't swing and hit the ball" sure works for me. So if I had to vote right now, it would be for Craig Kimbrel. No contest.
