2019 Awards Thread

Pedro came close in '99 (313 K in 213.1 IP for the year), but looking at his game logs, I think he just missed. Ryan was never even close to a 100+ K/IP margin, so pretty sure no for him.

100 K/IP, now that would be a record

I know you're kidding...I should have rendered that as +100 IP-K.

Even better: +100 K-IP.

btw deGrom is clearly the Mets' MVP, and trails only Bellinger, Yelich and Marte among all NL players (due in part to his batting value).

Scherzer and Ryu are both taking themselves out of the running lately. I'm thinking DeGrom might repeat.

I'll have to compare tomorrow, but in the AL, I thought Verlander and Cole were close enough that one start by each could reorder them. And that's exactly what has happened--so-so start by Verlander yesterday, another dominant performance by Cole today. I think Cole might have overtaken him for the moment.

Cole has been so good lately, it does seem like he's finishing very strong and Verlander may just be finishing "well".

degrom's having another great season but i think this is scherzer's to lose

I think you're going to see two of the closest Cy votes ever (certainly in a single season).

Scrolled through, and I only found one year where both winners were under an 80% share of the vote: 1973. Palmer beat Ryan 88-62 (14 first-place votes to 9...Blyleven ahead in WAR by 2-3 wins; think I had an epic argument about that one once), Seaver beat Marshall 71-54 (10 first-place votes to 9...Seaver was ahead in WAR 10.6 to 3.0!). Anyway, both leagues should be even closer this year. With Verlander-Cole, they're so close you either flip a coin or delve into Game Scores and strength-of-opposition.

When Alvarez pulls the ball in the air, he bats .868 with a 2.421 slugging percentage.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/youre-probably-underrating-yordan-alvarez

I don't know who votes in these mlb.com polls, but they've got Verlander still way ahead of Cole.

https://www.mlb.com/news/cy-young-poll-close-between-degrom-scherzer

That doesn't seem right; they ought to be very close.

Verlander has that Pedro-like WHIP, plus the WAR lead. And the wins lead, if you wanna kick it old-school.

i think one more "decent" JV start coupled with another otherworldly Cole start, plus him hitting 300 ks, might nudge him out in front.

Great six innings from Verlander last night. We'll see how Cole responds--back and forth. They're definitely up with (though not equal to, I don't think) Johnson/Schilling right now.

This site looks at strength of opposition--supposedly Verlander has had a clearly tougher draw.

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2019/9/17/20870026/justin-verlander-vs-gerrit-cole-for-cy-young-2019

Cole has two starts left at this point, I guess? Verlander may also have two, which gives him a clean shot at the coveted and gritty 20 win mark.

it’s surprising to me that strength of competition isn’t incorporated into basic WAR

c'mon Mike Minor!

Jacob deGrom's National League Cy Young Award defense gained some additional momentum today, when Max Scherzer allowed five runs in 6.2 IP.

deGrom ranks:

-First in pitcher bWAR
-First in strikeouts
-First in WHIP
-Second in pitcher fWAR
-Third in ERA
-Fifth in innings

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 18, 2019

I don't give a fuckitty fuck who wins the awaaahds

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Sunday, September 15, 2019 8:17 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Genuinely curious as to why anyone would be rooting for Minor, a journeyman, to win over one certain HOF'er and one potential HOF'er--to me, no different than voting some half-season fluke into the All-Star Game. He's got a quirky, hard to explain lead in Baseball Reference's WAR calculation (down to 0.1 over Verlander), not really close in Fangraph's.

well, i wouldn't *vote* for him because i find his b-ref WAR a little crazy

but why not *root* for a guy who missed two entire seasons with shoulder surgery, went to the bullpen, came back as a starter and is having a career year at age 31? verlander's going to cooperstown whether he wins it or not

If he were deserving, sure--I just can't see that he is next to the two Houston guys.

"they do nothing but give out awaaaahds"

yeah NA, I still don't, you POS

they've got Verlander still way ahead of Cole.
That doesn't seem right; they ought to be very close.

Verlander is more established and famous. The End.

It would be cute if JV lost out on a writers' award in the wake of having a writer barred from the clubhouse.

Cole just hit 300 Ks in 198.1 IP.

Six innings, two hits, 8 K, no walks or runs...His last ~15 starts must be on par with Arrieta's run a few years ago.

yeah NA, I still don't, you POS

c'mon man

he's been up my ass for about 15 years, c'mon him

Xpost all the way back to Clemenza, but “half-season flukes” are the best part of the all star game thankyouverymuch

I’m sorry. I just irealized I interrupted a fight.
Let’s fight about scrubs in the ASG instead.
I’m calling you out, Clem!

if you want to get fired up about unperson disrespecting leftists, then go crazy. you'll get banned, but i'm sure it will have been worth it

a) this board is about baseball
b) you posted about your team's ace on a thread specifically about awards, which three days ago you posted that you didn't care about
c) do you really want to post on a board by yourself, with no one to disagree with, because you've taken it too seriously?

i mean i know you, and that you're a sweetheart. stop being a dick about a game -- especially one that we all like very nearly as much as you

^^^ otm

“half-season flukes” are the best part of the all star game thankyouverymuch

I do understand the appeal--I think I'm generally viewed as the naive "narrative" guy around here--but I've long thought that the All-Star Game should be for the best players within, I don't know, a two-year window at least (preferably a little longer than that). If it comes down to a 37-year-old Willie Mays having a good-not-great season or Bernie Carbo tearing up the league--how's that for a timely example?--I want Mays in there.

(Hypocrisy interlude: I haven't actually watched more than a few minutes of an All-Star Game in at least a decade.)

I generally feel the same way about awards, unless the guy with the great story also has a legitimate statistical argument--i.e., I enjoyed seeing journeyman knuckleballer R.A. Dickey win. But I don't want Minor to win because I see no credible argument that he's the best pitcher in the league.

Alfredo Griffin was the greatest all star ever.

Search your feelings. You know it is true.

And with awards I’ll take things a little more seriously.
But there’s 50 or whatever all stars every year, we got space for a few randos every year.

I don't think there's any serious support for Minor because a lot of people suspect the BR number is fishy. This is definitely a case where comparing the two versions of WAR can be illuminating.

Great comeback season though, and definitely worth rooting for.

Let me clarify:

I am sure that just as Trout has been the best player in the game this year (again). deGrom has been slightly better than Scherzer. This is the point I am making.

What the BBRAA says on the matter is of no consequence. I didn't watch the Oscars last year either.

Thanks you for your attention.

i'm just needling morbs. there's no real acrimony on my part. and i interpreted morbs's response the same way.

Clem, at equal stats, I think a lot of us would give the award to the underdog if only because it makes this beautiful moment for him and the other dude already has all the awards; one more, one less, who cares. There is just a tendency as baseball fans (non-Yankees) to want to see happiness well spread.

In the case of Minor it is also refreshing to see a 92/93 mph fastball in contention. It doesn’t happen often that a less than 95 mph fastball pitcher wins the Cy Young.

These days, I mean.

Stats being equal (or even close), I totally understand that, and have been on the underdog side myself. Again--and Baseball Reference notwithstanding--I just can't get my head around the idea that they're close this year.

It's actually not that rare for an AL pitcher with a FB average less than 95 mph to win the CY Young: Porcello, Keuchel, and Kluber twice did it and that's just the past 5 years.

Still, go Minor.

for your eyes only

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-al-cy-young-voting-guide/

Verlander and Cole are scheduled to get two starts each--games 156/57 and 161/62, unless they're held back the last two for the playoffs. Verlander dominates Baseball Reference's leaderboards, old stats and new, but I still think they're close enough that Cole could overtake him.

more eyes only

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2019-nl-cy-young-voter-guide/

As much as I wanted to see Scherzer win another (clinching my HOF bet...which is pretty safe anyway), it's clearly deGrom's award now--he may even win lopsidedly. He leads both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs in WAR, and if you look at Scherzer's season, he was dominant for one month (June), and the rest of the time he's either been hurt or mediocre. deGrom, meanwhile, has been just as untouchable as last year the whole second half.

ALONSO

robbed of unanimity

https://www.amazinavenue.com/2019/11/11/20959532/mets-news-pete-alonso-wins-rookie-of-the-year-award-new-york-mlb

Both MOY votes were really close, for the first time in many years (I think)? Four or five managers in each league had legit cases for winning too.

DeGrom wins the NL Cy Young, 29 out of 30 first place votes.

Ryu gets the other

Verlander wins in the AL, 17 first place to Cole's 13.

Cole wuz robbed!

Cole and Verlander had all the first place and all the second place votes. I'm assuming it's the first time that's happened.

Don't know if they got it right, but I thought Verlander-Cole was every bit as close as it should have been. (And the NL vote was every bit as not-close as it should have been.)

Cole and Verlander had all the first place and all the second place votes. I'm assuming it's the first time that's happened.

i don't know of a counter-example off-hand, but that seems like it has to have happened before. pretty much anytime 2 pitchers stand head and shoulders above the rest of the league, right?

i feel like it would have happened w/Johnson and Schilling, maybe, but i only found the 2002 results thus far and Johnson was unanimous #1 and Schilling won almost all the second place votes but several guys threw votes to Smoltz and Gagne (lol), they were so dominant mowing down a couple of batters twice a week or so that year.

Cole and Verlander had all the first place and all the second place votes

see also trout and bregman

I figured NTBT was talking about teammates

oic

Good laugh at the 6 writers who gave LeMahieu the third place over Semien.

Actually I wasn't talking about teammates. But considering it happened again the very next day, maybe it isn't so rare?

Usually there's one near consensus pick or a few really good candidates and a highly split vote, no? I thought that two consensus candidates would be extremely rare.

maybe with the "numbers revolution" blah blah blah voters are becoming "more informed" (or something) thus there being less variance in their choices