Comments on: MVP, Cy Young, ROY, Etc, Awards

By: isuzudude

isuzudude — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:12:35 +0000

The gap between Johan and Lincecum is extremely narrow, that I’ll oblige. I’d cast my vote for Johan on the premise that Johan pitched better down the stretch in a playoff race coming up big in high-pressure situations, whereas Lincecum was pitching with nothing on the line aside from pride. To me, there’s more value in putting up great numbers when the stakes are higher.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:28:45 +0000

Oh forgot about Lincecum …. and you like Johan over Lincecum because of Lincecum’s slightly higher WHIP, slightly higher ERA, one less shutout, and 7 less innings pitched?

By: isuzudude

isuzudude — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:22:34 +0000

Johan was 16-7 with 3 CG, 2 SO, 234.1 IP, 206 K, 2.53 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, .232 opp avg.
Volquez was 17-6 with 0 CG, 0 SO, 196 IP, 206 K, 3.21 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .232 opp avg.

Those numbers tell me that the only stat Volquez was better than Johan in was K per IP. Johan had close to a point better ERA, a pretty significant WHIP edge, and pitched deeper into games as evidenced by the innings pitched difference. So my vote would still go to Johan.

In order, my voting would have gone 1) Johan, 2) Lincecum, 3) Webb, 4) Lidge, 5) Sabathia. Just one man’s opinion, I suppose.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:55:53 +0000

Dude, good points on Howard and Cantu.

As for your Cy Young choice, if you’re going to talk about teams who didn’t fully support their ace, what about Edinson Volquez? His numbers are strikingly similar to Johan’s, and his team was just as inept when it came to providing run support and competent relief.

By: isuzudude

isuzudude — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:23:10 +0000

I agree with Piniella and Soto.
As much as it pains me, I gotta go with Ryan Howard as MVP. There’s no doubting how valuable Manny is to the Dodgers, but LA still finished with a worse record than the Phillies, and were only 30-24 after obtaining Manny, while the Phillies were 33-21 over that same span. Howard’s 2nd half was monsterous, and his September was out of this world. He certainly struck out his fair share and his .251 average is not impressive at all, but he did lead the majors in homers and RBI by wide margins. Did playing at Citizens Bank Park help those matters? Probably…but his offensive numbers down the stretch are so gaudy and clutch he appears to me to be the most ‘valuable’ player to his team. With Utley and Rollins having down seasons and Burrell an awful 2nd half, Howard carried the Phillies into the postseason. He wins in my book.

Also, I’m going with Johan as Cy Young. Wins are nice, but they are by no means an indication of the best pitcher in the league. All it tells you is that Webb got better run support and better bullpen support than Johan. Because all of the key pitching stats (ERA, WHIP, IP, strikeouts, opponents batting average) Johan had the better numbers. So I’m not awarding Webb with the Cy Young simply because his team did a better job of winning when he was on the mound. If you put Johan in place of Webb during his starts with the D’backs this year, Johan probably wins 30 games. I’m much more about the stats that put a pitcher in position to win a game than the win total itself. Good for Webb for winning 22 games, but that doesn’t tell me he’s the best pitcher in the NL.

And I would have given the comeback award to Jorge Cantu. Lidge is deserving, but his phenominal 2008 season was preceeded by a pretty good 2007. So what did he really “come back” from? He went from good to great. Cantu went from getting released by Tampa last year and hitting just 1 HR to 29 homers in 628 AB with Florida this year.

By: joe

joe — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:20:05 +0000

well … I based it on the regular season performance, not the postseason. If Lou had Manny he’d look a lot smarter! LOL!

By: upson

upson — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:42:08 +0000

having just finished watching the Dodgers-Cubs game (yes, there actually still is some baseball on TV), I am not quite sure about Piniella’s MOY… Call me crazy, but I was in disbelief when I saw Harden not being pinch-hit with runners in corners in the top of the 4th. With Cubs strong bullpen and so many everyday starters there available, I thought they should have gone for it.