NL Cy Young should go to Sabathia
Posted: Friday, October 03, 2008 1:21 PM
One pitch to Shane Victorino in Game 2 of the NLDS probably ended Milwaukee’s dream of a run deep into the postseason but CC Sabathia will always be remembered in Brewers’ lore for his Herculean effort to bring October baseball back to Wisconsin.
Yesterday’s loss to the Phillies may end up as Sabathia’s last start for Milwaukee. Indeed the curse of the current playoff system is the ridiculous phenomenon of prevailing over 162 games to make the postseason only to be eliminated in as few as three games. The first round should be best-of-seven but television doesn’t want more games.
Besides a huge contract when he hits the free-agent market this offseason, here’s what else Sabathia should be in line for: the National League Cy Young.
Brandon Webb was the presumed winner of this award until he didn’t come up big in September, especially in two starts against the Dodgers. The Mets may push Johan Santana, more so after his Willis Reed-like performance throwing a shutout on the final Saturday with a knee in need of surgery. Santana was tremendous and when thinking NL Cy Young, I leaned in his direction at first. Having experienced baseball in New York I hold Santana’s performance in high regard given the pressure of his contract and the Mets’ pitching woes. Sympathy is given to Santana for losing seven wins to bullpen failures but look closely and see that the Mets’ bats took Santana off the hook from potential losses on August 27 and September 1.
In San Francisco it is assumed that Tim Lincecum will win the Cy Young. And he has a solid case to do so after an astounding first full season that in most years would be good enough to capture the award. But I think the circumstances in which you pitch matter. Lincecum had two advantages: a pitcher’s park and zero pressure.
Sabathia went to Milwaukee, a hitter’s park, and pitched with the burden of being staff savior. And he responded in remarkable fashion -- working on three days rest in his final three starts as well as Game 2 of the NLDS. In 17 Milwaukee starts, he was 11-2 with seven complete games, three shutouts and an excellent 1.003 WHIP.
I hear the cacophony from California that Sabathia didn’t pitch a full season in the National League after being dealt by the Indians to the Brewers on July 7. Well, check the books and you’ll find that the 1984 NL Cy Young Award went to Rick Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe was traded from Cleveland to Chicago on June 15, 1984 and proceeded to go 16-1, leading the Cubs to their first postseason in 39 years.
In 1984 Sutcliffe made 20 starts for the Cubs. Sabathia made 17 starts this year for the Brewers. Sutcliffe was worse for his first team that year (4-5, 5.15 ERA) while Sabathia was 6-8, 3.83 ERA this season for Cleveland. Sabathia’s overall numbers for this season: 17-10, 2.70 ERA, 1.115 WHIP with a horrid April and a brilliant September. That matters to me. What doesn’t matter to me is strikeouts, one of the linchpin arguments for awarding the Cy Young to Lincecum.
Here’s my thing with strikeouts: Nolan Ryan is the all-time king with 5,714. His career winning percentage? It’s .526. Someone needs to explain that to me. Lincecum is deserving and if he wins, no injustice would have been done but Sabathia deserves far more CY Young attention than he has received.
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. DODGERS GRAB 2-0 LEAD OVER CUBS: Anyone else remember the propaganda fed to and duly written by the New York newspapers this spring about how Joe Girardi’s camp would lead to better results and keep the Yankees from a slow start? Think Joe Torre, leading the Dodgers in the playoffs, while Girardi is at home, remembers?
2. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF DEREK JETER’S LEADERSHIP: Reminiscing about his Yankee years, which likely ended last weekend, Jason Giambi talked about his return to the team after the BALCO story broke saying Jeter stepped up and said, “(Giambi’s) my teammate and my friend and we’ll welcome him back.” Said Giambi of Jeter, “For him to do that…I’ll never forget that.”
3. HOW ABSURD HAS BULLPEN USE BECOME: The Mets used 129 pitchers in their final 25 games, an AVERAGE of 5.2 per game. They used six or more pitchers in 12 of those 25 games. I thought this had to be a record and asked Rob Tracy of Elias to confirm. He discovered that five teams have surpassed that amount, all in the last two years. Last year Washington used an insane 142 pitchers (5.7 per game). Does anyone wonder why relievers are so erratic given their abuse by managers?
4. NOT MUCH THUNDER ANYMORE FROM THE GIANTS: San Francisco hit 94 home runs this year, fewest in a full NL season since Florida hit 94 in 1993. The team that housed Barry Bonds now most exemplifies the change in baseball’s post-BALCO era. Fewer home runs each year, better balance with pitching and more of an emphasis on speed and athleticism. By the way, Aaron Rowand, last offseason’s big free-agent signing by the Giants, had one September RBI.
5. JUST WONDERING FROM WHAT WE’VE SEEN SO FAR IN THE PLAYOFFS…will Manny Ramirez have a monster postseason the likes of which we haven’t seen since Carlos Beltran’s run in 2004 with Houston (8 HR in 46 postseason at-bats)? And isn’t Evan Longoria, as we first wrote here in the spring, this year’s version of Troy Tulowitzki (his college teammate)?
