Zack Greinke took home the American League Cy Young award yesterday, besting Felix Hernandez. I find it very disconcerting that he was not the unanimous choice. Two first place votes went to Hernandez, and one to Justin Verlander. That being said, Greinke won by a very wide margin.
What he did this season was incredible: win a Cy Young for a team with a .401 winning percentage—the lowest such for any AL Cy Young winner. A horrible team, combined with a horrific infield, granted Greinke just 16 wins, the lowest ever for an AL winner.
But the rest of Greinke’s stats were undeniably incredible: a 2.16 ERA over 229.1 innings, with a 1.07 WHIP and 4.75 SO/BB. Hernandez, despite his three more wins, had an ERA of 2.49, a 1.14 WHIP and a 3.06 SO/BB. His more wins were a product of his playing for a better team: the Mariners finished above .500: .525.
How could you not give it Greinke?
Verlander’s ERA was 3.45. Already, he is not deserving when compared to Greinke (and even Hernandez). His WHIP was 1.18, and he completed half as many games as the winner. But, he did strike out 10.1 batters per nine innings and lead the League in strikeouts with 269. Regardless, he pitched for a playoff contention team: he had offense. Greinke had to do everything by himself.
The Royals won just 17 of his 33 starts. Nobody came close to deserving this award more than Greinke, and rightfully so.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Detroit Tigers, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Zack Greinke
