Do this years MLB individual awards mean anything?
craig44
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in Sports Talk
I was checking out the Cy Young winners yesterday and both of them finished at around 70 IP. I realize it is not their fault, but to me the individual awards just dont mean anything to me. usually i am interested in MVP, Cy Young etc, but this year not so much.
certainly doesnt seem like a good cross section. It amounts to who had a hot 2 months.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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At least you get two months out of them with the way pitchers are used today. Not too long ago 70 innings would have been about eight games. With a four man rotation, that's what? a bit over a month?
The shortened season does certainly put these awards into a different and interesting context. As we know, the 162 game schedule is a grind for the players. There are slow starts, early starts that end, hot streaks, cold steaks, etc. So the winners of season awards like this have usually exhibited a certain consistency. It would be easy to go back and re-write who the potential winners would have been if a season had suddenly been cut short.
Not much.
Probably won't remember the winners.
Trevor Bauer. W-L record 5-4
deGrom 10-9
deGrom 11-8
Hernandez 13-12
I guess it’s been a long time since I’ve followed MLB or awards. I remember
Winners 20-6 etc.
So what I’m saying is “Hey you kids, get off my lawn!”
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
nobody under 60 remembers anything about baseball , its finished
(i'm using that emoji as a yawn)
bronco just shoots and then says "bet you wish you would have gotten off my lawn".
The two Cy Young winners this year were 8-1 and 5-4. Of course the shortened season throws off any analysis of the numbers. But to your point @2dueces MLB pitching numbers have been altered dramatically during my lifetime. When I was younger, growing up, looking at a pitcher's numbers, I would go right to their W-L. I also liked to look at complete games and innings pitched. But with the way they limit innings, use relievers, and use analytics, those numbers don't mean dlso much to people anymore. Just like BA is not seen as such a meaningful stat in a game where getting on base with a single is forgotten about.
W/L has never been a good measurement of how good a pitcher is. Ex: In 1987, Nolan Ryan led the NL with a 2.76 ERA and had 270 K in 211 IP. He finished 8-16. He could easily have won the Cy Young that year - he finished 5th - as the guys ahead of him really didn't have impressive seasons.
You make a good point. I should have expanded my thought more. I was saying that things like shutouts, complete games, and innings pitched are no longer looked at as they once were. I used to love watching a pitcher go deep into a game, thinking whether or not he would make it all nine innings. But now that is not even something they are considering. So strategies, etc are all different.
Ryan was an anomaly. His teams were terrible. I think they averaged 2 runs a game when he pitched. He easily could have been 20-10.
I understand the game has changed. That’s fine. Everything changes and adapts. My statement was I remember Cy Young winners having winning records. But that was with more innings and more starts. The days of complete games are a thing of the past. As long as baseball fans enjoy the game that’s all that matters.
But, there’s always a but. Besides Mookie Betts the art of the bunt, stolen base, hit and run strategy is lost on younger fans. Hopefully after seeing Betts more scouts and managers will find all around players to bring it all back. Everyone loves the long ball but baseball is so much more.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Congrats to Freddie Freeman, NL MVP and COVID survivor.