Lynn is a finalist for AL Cy Young, has stats to back it up
The Chicago White Sox made adding starting pitcher Lance Lynn a priority last offseason.
“We wanted to make sure we were able to acquire someone we felt confident could not only fit into the front end of our rotation but was going to be ideally reliable every fifth day to give us some depth and length in his outings,” general manager Rick Hahn said last Dec. 8, the day the team announced the trade bringing Lynn to the Sox from the Texas Rangers for pitcher Dane Dunning and pitching prospect Avery Weems.
Lynn delivered in his first season with the Sox, earning All-Star honors and becoming a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award with the Toronto Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray and the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole.
The winner will be announced Wednesday.
Here are four stats that highlight Lynn’s 2021 season.
2.69
Lynn had a 2.69 ERA, which was tops among pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched this season. He pitched 157 innings, and according to the Sox, he finished five innings short of qualifying to become the team’s first pitcher to lead the AL in ERA since Joel Horlen (2.06) in 1967. Lynn missed time with trips to the injured list with a strained right trapezius (April 17-May 1) and right knee inflammation (Aug. 29-Sept. 10).
Lynn’s ERA stood at 1.23 after his 11th start, in which he allowed one run on four hits in seven innings while striking out nine June 9 against the Blue Jays. That marked the sixth-lowest ERA in Sox history through 11 starts.
“You can’t rest on what you’ve done to start the year because this game will come back and bite you, and you’re only as good as your next one,” he said after that start. “That’s my mindset.”
Lynn began the season with a streak of 18⅔ innings without allowing an earned run, the longest stretch to start a season for a Sox starter since Wilbur Wood’s 21 innings in 1976, according to Elias.
He allowed three runs or fewer in 24 of his 28 starts and had six starts of at least five innings in which he didn’t allow an earned run.
176
Lynn finished 12th in the AL with 176 strikeouts, the fifth time in his career he had at least 175 in a season. He averaged more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings (10.09) for the third time in the last four seasons.
Lynn struck out a season-high 11 on April 8 against the Kansas City Royals. He went the distance in the 6-0 victory, becoming the first AL pitcher to throw a shutout with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks in his team’s home opener.
The 11 strikeouts were the second-most by a Sox starting pitcher in a home opener, trailing only Edwin Jackson’s 13 in 2011.
“When you look at a completegame shutout, it’s hard to say you pitched better,” Lynn said after the game. “I pitched on stages that were a little bigger, but you look at it and I had double-digit strikeouts, no walks, complete game — that’s about as good as you’re going to get.”
Lynn struck out at least 10 batters in a game twice — 11 against the Royals and 10 on April 15 against Cleveland — and had nine strikeouts four times.
.209
Opponents had a .209 batting average against Lynn, which ranked second in the AL among pitchers with at least 150 innings. It was his third-lowest mark for a season in his career (.203 in 2011 with the Cardinals and .206 in 2020 with the Rangers).
Opponents had a .267 on-base percentage (the lowest figure for a season in his career) and a .338 slugging percentage (second-lowest in his career behind .317 in 2011) — marks that also placed Lynn second in the AL for pitchers with at least 150 innings.
Lynn held right-handers to a .192/.230/.303 slash line (57-for297), while lefties slashed .227/.302/.375 (66-for-291).
In starts in which he went at least five innings, he limited the opposition to four hits or fewer 14 times.
That includes allowing one unearned run on two hits in seven innings in a 5-1 victory against the Cardinals on May 24. It was originally a three-hitter, but a scoring change days later switched a sixth-inning hit to an error.
Lynn, who played for the Cardinals from 2011-17, said after the game: “I’m not going to lie to you: That was probably the most satisfying win I’ve ever had in my career, not counting the playoffs. I enjoyed it quite a bit, beating them. It’s one of the teams I do not have a major-league win against, and now I do.”
He surrendered eight hits or fewer in every start this season.
“He’s going to come at you,” Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal said Oct. 5. “He’s going to put pressure on you, and you’d better be ready for him when he’s on the mound.”
11-6
Lynn had an 11-6 record, the eighth time in his career reaching double-digit wins in a season. The 11 wins tied for 14th in the AL.
He played a big hand in helping the Sox win their first division title since 2008, going 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 13 starts against the AL Central. That included going 5-1 in eight home starts against the division.
Lynn felt at home at Guaranteed Rate Field, going 7-3 with a 2.56 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 17 starts.
“There’s something about the South Side, with my personality, that fits,” he said June 9. “So I’m enjoying it.”