By Thom Henninger
It was thought the American League Cy Young vote would be tight, with Zack Greinke and three 19-game winners in the mix, but the National League count proved to be a much closer one.
With 10 points separating the top three vote-getters, Giants ace Tim Lincecum repeated as the NL winner in one of the tightest races between three pitchers in the history of the award. The San Francisco right-hander finished second to the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright in first-place votes, but in the final tally, Lincecum, with 100 points, won Cy Young honors over both St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter (94 points) and teammate Wainwright (90).
With a 15-7 record and 2.48 ERA, Lincecum posted the smallest win total ever by a Cy Young Award winner, and both Wainwright and Carpenter won more games in 2009. The previous low mark for a Cy Young recipient was 16 wins, a total matched by Greinke in claiming AL honors on Thursday.
There was a time when the win totals of this year’s Cy Young winners might have kept them from claiming the award. Wins were the most important number to many writers for many years.
For instance, Oakland right-hander Bob Welch claimed AL honors in 1990 after going 27-6 with a 2.95 ERA. The second-place finisher, Boston’s Roger Clemens, was 21-6 with a major league-leading 1.93 ERA that was a run better than Welch’s. Clemens also posted a markedly better WHIP (1.08 vs. 1.22), 82 more strikeouts than Welch in 10 fewer innings, and lower numbers in both opponent batting (.228 vs. 242) and opponent slugging (.306 vs. .391).
A new generation of statistics has worked its way into the consciousness of baseball fans and the writers who cover the game. It’s likely a few of them figured far more prominently in the decision-making for this year’s winners.
Let’s take a look at some of the numbers that distinguish Lincecum, Carpenter and Wainwright as the National League’s best pitchers in 2009.
Top Three Finishers in NL Cy Young Vote, 2009
(NL rank in parentheses)
| Lincecum | Carpenter | Wainwright | |
| Wins | 15 (4t) | 17 (2) | 19 (1) |
| ERA | 2.48 (2) | 2.24 (1) | 2.63 (4) |
| WHIP | 1.05 (5) | 1.01 (2) | 1.21 (10) |
| Opp BA | .206 (2) | .226 (7) | .244 (16) |
| Opp OPS | .561 (1) | .581 (2) | .646 (8) |
| HR/9 IP | 0.40 (3) | 0.33 (1) | 0.66 (11) |
| Strikeouts | 261 (1) | 144 (27) | 212 (4) |
| K-BB Ratio | 3.84 (7) | 3.79 (8) | 3.21 (12) |
| Quality Starts | 26 (1) | 22 (11t) | 25 (2t) |
Using this collection of stats, there’s little doubt Lincecum and Carpenter deserved to finish 1-2 in the vote. Both were deserving candidates, and it was Lincecum who came away with his second straight Cy Young Award.
The old mentality about Cy Young winners might have given the award to Wainwright, the league leader in wins with 19. Wainwright had a terrific year, easily the best in his three full seasons in the majors, but both Lincecum and Carpenter were better pitchers in 2009.
{ 2 comments }
I think if Wainwright had notched that 20th victory he would’ve won.
I think you’re probably right. Twenty-game winners are becoming a rare breed, and for that reason, a pitcher’s win total could be the difference if he has 20.
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