The NL Cy Young Award Showdown

The 2009 National League Cy Young race is an interesting situation. There are at least two pitchers who make definitive cases for the coveted award, and choosing the winner will be a difficult decision for those forced to vote.

While some great pitching was pretty commonplace throughout the entire National League, the race really boils down to two pitchers. Guys like Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright, Jair Jurrjens, Johan Santana, Wandy Rodriguez, and others were absolutely great this season, with many of them having career years.

However, Tim Lincecum and Chris Carpenter both stole the show. Pitching their respective teams to winning records, both of these pitchers had some of the best pitching seasons in recent memory.

Looking at the stats doesn’t tell the whole story with either of these pitchers. That’s perhaps what makes this race even more difficult to call, as if it wasn’t already hard enough. It’s almost painful to deny either of these incredible pitchers of an award they deserve. Maybe they’ll somehow tie for the award.

As far as Lincecum is concerned, he was magnificent in 2009. A 15-7 record, a 2.48 ERA, and 261 strikeouts (best in the league) in 225.1 innings pitched were all phenomenal. He was largely responsible for San Francisco’s first winning season in years.

On the other hand, Chris Carpenter’s story may be more interesting, and his numbers equally impressive. Carpenter sat out almost all of 2007 and 2008 due to injury. Now in his mid 30s, no one expected he’d be as dominant as he was in 2009. He had the best ERA in the National League at 2.24, and won 17 games while losing only four.

As for who will win this race, all bets are off. Voters will probably be required to vote based on the surrounding details rather than the stats themselves. After all, the stats themselves would lead someone to mull this over all day.

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