First Half AL Cy Young

[Lance324]

I chose Lee, 12-2 with Cleveland, a team that has really played poorly. The 2.31 ERA is not as low as Duke's, but still very good.

Dice-K... Sorry but I can't see him as a consideration. How he maintains that low of an ERA with the way he walks guys is unbeknowst to me. He's just darn lucky. Also he would be far more helpful to his team if he would last more than 5 or 6 innings per start, but you can't leave a guy in for the 6th and 7th inning when he has already thrown 120 pitches.

Rivera... The 4 votes for him had to be Yankee homer picks. Just over half as many saves as K-Rod. As far as his ERA, it's impressive, no doubt. But Duke has pitched 66 more innings and his ERA is only .80 runs higher. Rivera won't pitch 108 innings this season, but I'll almost guarantee his ERA will be higher than 1.06 by season's end.

[bwitty24]

Yankees haters here...Dice K over Rivera Bon? Come on now.

And walks are not good. Eventually those walks will translate into runs and we will see the bum that Dice K is. He has a good defense behind him so a lot of times those walks don't translate into runs. A pitcher averaging like over 3 or 4 walks a game is no CY.

[HollywoodLeo]

Yankees homers here...Rivera over Lee, Duchscherer, or Saunders bwit? Come on now.

[GiantsFanatic]

Dice-K's walks can be a concern, but if his BB were really a problem, his era would have been higher, but that just shows how good of a pitcher he is, despite walking guys, he knows how to get them out. And his era is not a fluke.

[bwitty24]

Just because Rivera is a closer he gets no love.

[catman]

With a little better run support, Duchsherer could be 15-0. He has had great stuff this year. I don't expect him to pitch this well all season, with his history of injuries and his inexperience as a full-time starter, but he gets my vote thusfar.
Rivera isn't even my closer of the 1st half. Joe Nathan has more saves than Mo has and has not lost any games.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Rivera has been perfect. So he doesn't have as many saves. But he has been nothing but PERFECT in save opportunities. 23 for 23, with 1 MEASLEY RUN in save opportunities. I give him the Cy. 2nd choice: Duscherer. ERA is way more important than record to me.

And i honestly am not saying this because I'm a Yankee fan. He's been just filthy.

[Halladay_is_God]

Rivera would have to finish with 50+ saves to even get a Cy Young nod, sorry Yankees fans not happening, K-Rod has the best chance out of any closer to get one this season

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Rivera would have to finish with 50+ saves to even get a Cy Young nod, sorry Yankees fans not happening, K-Rod has the best chance out of any closer to get one this season

Saves are only a product of how many situations you get put in. ERA and runs allowed in save situations are much more important. Saves are overrated, and ERA is underrated. Saves are contingent on things the pitcher cannot control. ERA is built so that only the pitcher can control their ERA. They give up runs, they have a higher ERA. End of story.

[redsrbetter]

Duchsherer came out of nowhere for me and gets my vote. I don't care about win-loss records at all. I hate that it is even a stat. But the Duke's ERA is ridiculous. Who would have expected him to be this good?

[Halladay_is_God]

Saves are only a product of how many situations you get put in. ERA and runs allowed in save situations are much more important. Saves are overrated, and ERA is underrated. Saves are contingent on things the pitcher cannot control. ERA is built so that only the pitcher can control their ERA. They give up runs, they have a higher ERA. End of story.

call saves over-rated if you want but Rivera still won't get closer the way K-Rod is going, Rivera may have a downright dirty ERA and WHIP but it mean nothing if he can't get past 50 saves (or at least 45 saves) even if K-Rod slows down his pace, yet he only needs 22 to get 60 saves on the season and that by itself will look Cy Young worthy.

you have to remember its the writers who vote and what are they going to look at? Wins and saves then ERA 2nd.


Also your statement about ERA being solely on the pitcher is wrong, its up to team defense too, did they get that double play, throw out that base runner at home, or catch that shallow fly ball in the outfield?


I could set up a list on who is likely to win and who will finish 2nd to 5th maybe to 10th and I would say Rivera barely get in the top 10 if he's in it at all.

I had the winners of the Cy Young right since 2003 when the season ended, called Colon over Santana even down to MVP's like Morneau over Jeter (I would had Dye 2nd imo, although Ortiz should have won)

[HollywoodLeo]

Just because Rivera is a closer he gets no love.

Rivera is certainly having a great year, but so are those that I listed and, IMHO, if a closer and a starter are having equally good years the edge goes to the starter because he provides more innings for his team.

[Halladay_is_God]

I'm interested at what people here look at when deciding a Cy Young winner

It is Wins, Saves, ERA, IP, CG, SO, BB, K/9, BB/9, QS, WHIP? do they even look at run support? which one is most important to people

I try to look at it from the writers side rather than a fan

[NYgiantsfan5689]

call saves over-rated if you want but Rivera still won't get closer the way K-Rod is going, Rivera may have a downright dirty ERA and WHIP but it mean nothing if he can't get past 50 saves (or at least 45 saves) even if K-Rod slows down his pace, yet he only needs 22 to get 60 saves on the season and that by itself will look Cy Young worthy.

you have to remember its the writers who vote and what are they going to look at? Wins and saves then ERA 2nd.


Also your statement about ERA being solely on the pitcher is wrong, its up to team defense too, did they get that double play, throw out that base runner at home, or catch that shallow fly ball in the outfield?


I could set up a list on who is likely to win and who will finish 2nd to 5th maybe to 10th and I would say Rivera barely get in the top 10 if he's in it at all.

I had the winners of the Cy Young right since 2003 when the season ended, called Colon over Santana even down to MVP's like Morneau over Jeter (I would had Dye 2nd imo, although Ortiz should have won)

you're right. saves are higher profile. which is upsetting. if the defense craps out, the runs are unearned and don't affect ERA. Therefore, it's only runs that are completely blamable on the pitcher that are counted in the ERA. unfortunately I agree that Rivera won't get the Cy Young. Starters always win, and K-Rod, despite an ERA over 3, has a ridiculous amount of saves, which IMO are less important but easier to write about and therefore go as a higher profile. Remember, Mo still has 23 saves, which puts him on pace to get 46, which is a very high number. Without K-Rod, that could make him the saves leader at the end of a given season.

At this pace, will Mo win the Cy Young? No. Should he? IMO, yes. He's got a filthy ERA, an unreal BB/K ration, especially in save situations when it matters, and still a very impressive save total. The closer spot is one that many pitchers fail because of the proper mindset required for the spot. Brett Myers said he lost the dedication for starting after experiencing the thrill of closing. It's a high-pressure situation that many pitchers crumble under and only a few thrive. It's so rare to find. That's why I think it should be considered on par with starting. But the innings factor gets a hold of many people.

Rivera is certainly having a great year, but so are those that I listed and, IMHO, if a closer and a starter are having equally good years the edge goes to the starter because he provides more innings for his team.

See above ^ for my response to the innings argument.

[Halladay_is_God]

K-Rod's ERA is only 2.36 (which is 4th among AL Closers with over 20 SV), WHIP is high though at 1.26