The most deserving winner of the 2015 NL Cy Young Award is heavily debatable. Not only is there not a runaway candidate, there are actually three very deserving pitchers.
- Jake Arrieta (Cubs)
- Zack Greinke (Dodgers)
- Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
As amazing as it is having three pitchers with extremely productive and in some ways, historical seasons, it’s as equally impressive that two come from the same rotation on the west coast.
Kershaw and Greinke have been keeping Los Angeles at or near the top in the NL West division all season long. While the Dodgers offense went through hot and cold streaks, the pitching was usually the rock solid steady hand guiding them along.
Greinke pitched consistently well for the entire year. His numbers never wavered throughout the grind of the season. He was the same dominant pitcher in April as the one who closed out September. He finished the year 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA, best in the NL, as well as an even 200 strikeouts across 222.2 innings. His 86.4% winning percentage led the majors. Zack was also selected to his 3rd all star game, his 2nd consecutively.
Kershaw, already a 3-time NL Cy Young Award winner (2011, 2013, 2014), started slow by his remarkable high standards this season. After 15 starts he had an ERA at 3.33, but during the final 18 outings, that number was 1.22, dipping his yearly total to 2.13. At 16-7 his win-loss record is inferior, yet that 2.13 ERA, while a half run behind his teammate, is down right filthy in it’s own right. He rallied hard during the summer to conclude his year with a personal best of 301 strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher since Randy Johnson with the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks to post a 300 strikeout season.
Arrieta had a second half that cannot be paired with today’s pitchers. He has numbers that would make even Bib Gibson chuckle in disbelief. His 12-1 record was best in the league, and his 0.75 ERA ranks atop the major league history books. The Cubs righty was no slouch in the first half either, however. He was 10-5 with a 2.66 ERA when the midsummer classic took place in Cincinnati, yet he was not selected to his first all star game. He finished the year 22-6, with his 22 wins leading baseball. Allowing just 150 hits in 229 innings, he also led baseball with the best H/9 (hits allowed per 9 innings pitched) ratio.
For my money, I’ll take Arrieta for a shocking reason. The second half performance. While Greinke was better over the course of a full season, Arrieta was marginally right behind him numbers wise. The Cubs would not be where they are at without Arrieta leading the pitching staff. A staff that includes $155 free agent acquisition Jon Lester. History has to be taken into context when we look at an award like this. The 0.75 ERA does it for me, let alone the 0.41 ERA he racked up since August 1st. That’s 4 earned runs over 12 starts and 88 innings. We will soon find out who won this award, but since all three are deserving, no one should be surprised no matter the choice.
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