Fernandez still a Cy Young candidate
In the hours and days after Jose Fernandez’s tragic death, all his wonderful talent, onfield glory and historic numbers were deemed secondary.
The baseball world, from the Cuban community in Miami to every other locale aware of the sport, mourned the man, not necessarily the athlete, and reflected on his inspirational story, his passion for living and the people he touched.
Stepping back from the outpouring of emotions at Monday’s Marlins-Mets game, Wednesday’s memorial and Thursday’s funeral — none of which could be watched with a dry eye — there’s a Cy Young Award competition that involves the great young star whose life was taken in a weekend boating accident.
Ballots for both leagues are due before the first playoff game, and each has room for five names. There’s plenty of space for Fernandez, whose spectacular season should be acknowledged. Not as a sentimental vote, either.
Fernandez was 16-8 with a 2.86 ERA, and his 253 strikeouts in 1821⁄3 innings represent the highest strikeout per nine innings average, 12.5, in the majors. In his last start, he struck out 12 and walked none in eight shutout innings.
He probably would have had two more starts.
With the regular season coming to an end Sunday, barring a wild-card tiebreaker, Fernandez is a legitimate candidate for the Cy Young Award, and measuring him among other pitchers could be tough for voters. The favorites seem to be Washington’s Max Scherzer and Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks.
Others who could receive votes (not necessarily firstplace votes) include Hendricks’ teammate Jon Lester, the New York’s Noah Syndergaard and the Giants’ Johnny Cueto and Madison Bumgarner.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Fernandez is mentioned on most if not all 30 ballots (two members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America from each of the 15 NL cities), somewhere among the five names.
The question is, how high? If Fernandez gets first-place votes, why not? A legitimate case could be made. Plus, there are no guidelines on the Cy Young ballot as there are on the MVP ballot, which has spaces for 10 names and lists five rules (written the same as they were on the first ballot in 1931):
“1. Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense. 2. Number of games played. 3. General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
4. Former winners are eligible.
5. Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.”
The Cy Young ballot simply has five spaces to fill in names, so voters set their own standards to determine the best pitcher. Voting is conducted by a point system, with a firstplace vote worth seven points and second through fifth worth four, three, two and one points.
Last year, nine pitchers received votes, and Jake Arrieta won with 169 points over Zack Greinke (147) and Clayton Kershaw (101), who could have won the award a fourth time if not for this year’s back injury. Fernandez finished third as a rookie in 2013.
Scherzer is second in the league in innings pitched (38 1⁄3 ahead of Hendricks and 31⁄3 behind Bumgarner) and leads in strikeouts (111 ahead of Hendricks). Hendricks’ 1.99 ERA tops everyone, including Scherzer’s sixth-best 2.82. Both are scheduled to pitch Sunday.
Fernandez is second to Scherzer in K’s and second to Syndergaard in WAR, according to Fangraphs (strangely, he’s not in the top 10 in Baseball Reference’s WAR rankings). Fernandez was 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA against the first-place Nationals and could have won 20 games, having yielded one or no earned runs in four nodecisions.
On my ballot, Fernandez would be no lower than third with Scherzer No. 1 and Hendricks No. 2. AL Cy Young: This is a balanced competition. Boston’s Rick Porcello, Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, Chicago’s Chris Sale, Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez and New York’s Masahiro Tanaka are in the hunt, as is near-perfect Baltimore closer Zach Britton, but we favor Detroit’s Justin Verlander, who overcame a rough start and is his old dominant self (2.00 ERA in the second half ) even if his fastball doesn’t have the same zip. He ranks with every other top starter on most every front, but is blowing away the competition in strikeouts. NL MVP: Kris Bryant is the most important player on the best team, his value measured with his offensive production and defensive versatility. He gets the nod over teammate Anthony Rizzo, Washington’s Daniel Murphy, Los Angeles’ Corey Seager, Colorado’s Nolan Arenado, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman and Cincinnati’s Joey Votto. AL MVP: As the note on the ballot indicates, “There is no clear-cut definition of what most valuable means.” If the award simply went to the best player in baseball, Willie Mays would have many more than two MVPs. It’s more complex, traditionally going to a player who helped put his team over the top in a playoff race –- unless it’s a Barry Bonds making history — and that continues to haunt the Angels’ Mike Trout, the Mays of his generation. We’re going with Boston’s Mookie Betts, a well-rounded threat at the plate, a menace on the bases and above average in the outfield, over Houston’s Jose Altuve, Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Baltimore’s Manny Machado and Britton, along with Boston’s retiring designated hitter David Ortiz. Betts is the first player in four years to reach 200 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBIs, and he’s 26for-30 in steal attempts. NL Rookie of the Year: Seager, and there’s no debate, with apologies to two other shortstops in the division: Colorado’s Trevor Story and St. Louis’ Aledmys Diaz. Should be unanimous. AL Rookie of the Year: Willie McCovey won the award with just 52 games in 1959, and Gary Sanchez of the Yankees is making a similar argument 51 games in. But let’s not overlook Detroit pitcher Michael Fulmer, who has been solid all season, not just post-Alex Rodriguez, and a force in the Tigers’ playoff push. NL Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker came off a twoyear layoff to unite the Nationals despite Bryce Harper’s struggles. He’s our choice, though Chicago’s Joe Maddon, L.A.’s Dave Roberts and New York’s Terry Collins have been fabulous. AL Manager of the Year: The most surprising division winner is Cleveland, and a big reason is Terry Francona. Runner-up: Texas’ Jeff Banister.