Mission Accomplished…For Now
September 12, 2008Braylon Busted For Speeding…Three Weeks Later
September 13, 2008Cliff Lee had a rough ninth inning, but managed to get his league leading 22nd victory in a 12-5 win over the Royals. For Lee, it was his 5th victory over Kansas City this season.
We have discussed Cliff’s chances of winning the Cy Young numerous times, and it appears that Lee has all but secured the award. There is still talk about K-Rod getting the nod, and I’m sure that supporters of Rodriguez would point to Cliff’s victories over KC as wins over an inferior team in non-pressure situations. However, let’s take a look at the teams Cliff has beaten this year-
In the AL West, Lee owns victories over the A’s (2-1 and 7-1), the Mariners (8-3, and 6-2), the Rangers (5-2, and 15-9) and Angels (3-2). In the Central he has beaten Minnesota (4-0, 5-4), Kansas City (2-0, 5-4, 10-3, 3-1, 12-5), Chicago (5-0), and Detroit (8-2, 10-4). Out East he beat New York (3-0), Toronto (4-0), and Tampa Bay (5-0, 5-2). There are only 2 AL teams that Cliff hasn’t beaten, Boston and Baltimore. Cliff did not pitch against the Orioles, and won’t get the chance. He should get a start in Boston however.
Interestingly enough, Cliff could potentially get 3 more starts. He will go against Minnesota on Wednesday, then should start the following Tuesday in Boston, and could end up pitching the last game of the season against the White Sox. All three of those games should have play-off implications. Cliff could potentially lose votes if he struggled down the stretch, especially with the attention that these games should get. Then again, he could certainly engrave his own name on the plaque with strong outings against these teams.
4 Comments
I’d like to charge the final 3 runs to Jhonny Peralta, for his failure to be a reasonable shortstop. 1 out, 1 on first, and he lets a double play ball go right past him. If Jeremy Caroll (who made an outstanding grab at 3rd in the 8th inning) or Asdrubal Cabrera were at short, the game would have been done in 2 throws, 12 to 2.
If being 20 games over .500 doesn’t get every vote out there, there needs to be a evaluation of the BWA credentials. Sure, the ninth inning of last night didn’t help his ERA very much, but why not see if he could close them out? The only game that makes me a bit nervous for his record is the game at Boston… Obviously for good reason, but man oh man would I love to be the spoiler…
Cy Young was not a closer. He was an amazingly durable and effective starter. K-Rod is a closer. Cliff Lee is the most (in fact, an amazingly) durable and effective starter. Case closed.
And I am aware that closers have won the award before, but that doesn’t undermine my rationale – it just means I disagree with those picks.
Jeezus someone buy that man a steak dinner!!!
His forearms are the size of my 80 year old grandmothers. Yikes.
@Chip
If either of those guys were at short, the Indians offense would be even more amnemic than it is now. You are correct in saying that JP has crappy range. But defense is highly overrated, especially in the AL. If you look at a simple formula that pits “runs created hitting/runs possibly saved” you will see how absolutely meaningless defensive ability is in a 162 game season.