It is my pleasure to post the final of our year end ballots with the Cy Young award.
With apologies to Shane Bieber, Blake Snell, Noah Syndergaard, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Chris Sale, Zack Greinke and a few others, below are the candidates (in alpha order):
Garrit Cole (Scurvy)
3.01 ERA (4th), 18-8 record (3rd in wins), .182 batting average (1st), .237 on-base (1st), .343 slugging (2nd), 300 strikeouts (1st), 8.2 runners per 9 (1st), 5.5 K/BB (5th), .742 quality start (4th), .579 OPS (1st)
Jack Flaherty (Brooklyn)
3.17 ERA (9th), 20-8 record (1st in wins), .199 batting average (3rd), .247 on-base (2nd), .394 slugging (unlisted), 262 strikeouts (5th), 8.6 runners per 9 (2nd), 6.4 K/BB (2nd), .656 quality start (unlisted), .640 OPS (8th)
Max Scherzer (Detroit)
2.91 ERA (3rd), 16-7 record (7th in wins), .196 batting average (2nd), .267 on-base (6th), .356 slugging (6th), 285 strikeouts (3rd), 9.7 runners per 9 (6th), 3.7 K/BB (unlisted), .758 quality start (3rd), .623 OPS (3rd)
Stephen Strasburg (Chicago)
2.82 ERA (1st), 14-10 record (10th in wins), .221 batting average (8th), .227 on-base (unlisted), .359 slugging (9th), 262 strikeouts (6th), 9.9 runners per 9 (10th), 4.0 K/BB (unlisted), .727 quality start (5th), .635 OPS (7th)
Justin Verlander (Lakeview)
3.16 ERA (8th), 15-5 record (9th in wins), .206 batting average (4th), ..253 on-base (3rd), .389 slugging (unlisted), 290 strikeouts (2nd), 9.1 runners per 9 (3rd), 6.4 K/BB (1st), .714 quality start (7th), .643 OPS (9th)
Every single one of these finalists went over their PTL except Verlander. Some went at least 4 or 5 starts past, and weren't all that penalized by DMB for it, if at all. I almost wrote in Bieber as he's the best candidate among those who stayed under 107% or so (about where a player would be if you got a start with 104% PTL).
I'm not throwing Rod under the bus. I should have included Alonso on the MVP list, so I get it.
I still ended up voting for Cole because he actually did suffer in his last start due - I guess - to DMB's rules. But I was *this close* to writing in Bieber.
Cole actually suffered a couple times. I was forced to start him down the stretch as I figured using him over usage was better than my other alternatives. They weren’t pretty, but they got me into the playoffs!