Greinke should be your Cy Young, end of.
September is the time of year when everybody suddenly has an opinion on teams in baseball they haven't watched all year. Otherwise known as the 'who is going to be the Cy Young/MVP' debate.
The NL Cy Young running is a pretty close race. I'd pick Lincecum but both him and Carpenter (not to mention Adam Wainwright and Matt Cain) have a few starts in them to cement their place. In my opinion the American League race is a far less close thing - so why does no fool agree with me?!
If I were voting on personality alone it could only be Zack Greinke. The guy overcame personality issues to do with shyness and depression that would have been taboo in baseball days of yore and may have put an end to his baseball career before it had even started. Couple this with the fact that Greinke this year has been simply awesome and you have the story of the year. Want more non-numbers related reasons? The Royals made a really cool t-shirt to celebrate his immenseness.
Want some more statistically based reasons?
American League ERA leaders 2009:
So why do I tune into Sunday Night Baseball and hear Joe Morgan calling for Sabathia to be MVP because "he has been more consistant than Greinke"? I'm not good enough to go all Ken Tremendous on you here but in what way does Greinke's appearance in at least the top five of every main statistical pitching category, in many of them ahead of CC, show that he lacks consistency? Perhaps it is because Joe Morgan more consistantly watches CC Sabathia pitch for the Yankess than he watches Zack Greinke pitch for the Royals? I don't know. In a 'screw you' to the bain of my Sunday nights Greinke then went on to stike out 15 in his next start.
In case you were wondering Greinke also excels in the more advanced pitching metrics. He leads all of baseball in VORP (69.5) and leads the AL in FIP (2.39).
Unless something sensational happens in the remainder of the month it can only really be Greinke for the Cy Young award.
The NL Cy Young running is a pretty close race. I'd pick Lincecum but both him and Carpenter (not to mention Adam Wainwright and Matt Cain) have a few starts in them to cement their place. In my opinion the American League race is a far less close thing - so why does no fool agree with me?!If I were voting on personality alone it could only be Zack Greinke. The guy overcame personality issues to do with shyness and depression that would have been taboo in baseball days of yore and may have put an end to his baseball career before it had even started. Couple this with the fact that Greinke this year has been simply awesome and you have the story of the year. Want more non-numbers related reasons? The Royals made a really cool t-shirt to celebrate his immenseness.
Want some more statistically based reasons?
American League ERA leaders 2009:
Greinke (KCR) 2.31American League WHIP leaders 2009:
Hernandez (SEA) 2.65
Jackson (DET) 3.08
Halladay (TOR) 3.12
Lee (CLE) 3.13
Greinke (KCR) 1.07American League Strikeouts per 9 innings leaders 2009:
Sabathia (NYY) 1.13
Washburn (SEA/DET) 1.41
Baker (MIN) 1.444
Halladay (TOR) 1.447
Verlander (DET) 10.2Greinke (202) is also second to Verlander (215) in total Ks, is second (5.05) to Halladay (6.60) in strikeout to walk ratio and leads the league in complete games pitched (6) and shutouts (3). (all stats from www.baseball-reference.com).
Lester (BOS) 10.1
Greinke (KCR) 9.5
Hernandez (SEA) 8.6
Beckett (BOS) 8.5
So why do I tune into Sunday Night Baseball and hear Joe Morgan calling for Sabathia to be MVP because "he has been more consistant than Greinke"? I'm not good enough to go all Ken Tremendous on you here but in what way does Greinke's appearance in at least the top five of every main statistical pitching category, in many of them ahead of CC, show that he lacks consistency? Perhaps it is because Joe Morgan more consistantly watches CC Sabathia pitch for the Yankess than he watches Zack Greinke pitch for the Royals? I don't know. In a 'screw you' to the bain of my Sunday nights Greinke then went on to stike out 15 in his next start.
In case you were wondering Greinke also excels in the more advanced pitching metrics. He leads all of baseball in VORP (69.5) and leads the AL in FIP (2.39).
Unless something sensational happens in the remainder of the month it can only really be Greinke for the Cy Young award.
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