Week 9 Blog

Every year, awards are given out after the baseball season like Most Valuable Player for both the National and American leagues, Silver Slugger awards, Gold Glove awards and also Rookies of the Year. One award imparticular has lost its luster and importance because of a change in how people are voting for the Cy Young award. In recent years, the pitcher who wins the award is not the pitcher who best leads his team to victory but the pitcher who can put up the best statistics to appeal to voters. While these new statistical categories have been very beneficial for Major League teams for scouting purposes, they should not play the deciding factor in voting for the Cy Young award. I feel that rather than basing one's vote on statistical categories for the Cy Young award, the award should be given to the pitcher who best leads their team to victory.

In recent years, the Cy Young award has not gone to the pitcher who has best led their league statistically and leading their team to victory. In this year’s voting for the National League Cy Young, statistics like strikeouts and earned run average skewed voters into voting Tim Lincecum the Cy Young award winner rather than Adam Wainright, who led his team to the playoffs and had four more wins than Lincecum. Also, pitcher Zack Greinke won the American League Cy Young award with a record-low 16 victories. The two pitchers who led their respective leagues in wins this season with 19 a piece lost their deserving award because of these baseball voters who are now enamored with statistics that do not mean nearly as much as wins or winning percentage.

Rather than a pitcher who has good statistics, I feel the deserving winner should be a pitcher who puts his team in the best overall position to win each and every game that he takes the mound.