@E-Train
the cy young is an individual accomplishment, it goes for the best pitcher, not based on how good your whole team did, kershaw is the winner hands down no argument enough said.
James C - 13 years ago
It's Kershaw, and it's NOT even close. NO other starter has gone head to head with Tim and beaten him all 4 times, and is 5-0 against the Giants. The fact the bullpen blew 3 wins in the first 3 months adds some validity as well. If he had the Philli offense behind him, he'd be 27-2.
Larry Bloom - 13 years ago
Clayton deserves the CY YOUNG for sure! The Dodgers had better take care of him and his contract.
Joe - 13 years ago
Cy Young Award is for the best overall pitcher, who is Kershaw. An award for Most Valuable would question a player's team standing, since with a poor team no player can be considered so valuable as one who is contributing to a contending team. Someone mentioned "pitcher-friendly" ball park trying to diminish Kershaw's acheivements in all the pitching categories, but then there was the other team's pitcher pitching in the same pitcher friendly ballpark. Take Lincicum who has lost all three times he went up against Kershaw, ask him, if he thinks Kershaw had it easy?
pt1kahlua - 13 years ago
The fact that Kershaw plays for the Dodgers, who have been weak hitting through much of the year, makes his accomplishment even more impressive. He had to earn his wins more so than other candidates. His stats show that.
Ruben - 13 years ago
Kershaw easy. If he pitched for other teams he would have 27 wins. His ERA, Strike-out lead speaks to him being the best. He should win.
DODGER BLUE WOO WOO WOO - 13 years ago
IF IT WASN'T FOR THE BULLPEN AND DEFENSE KERSHAW WOULD HAVE THREE MORE WINS! AND THIS IS WITH A NOT SO POTENT OFFENSE. REMEMBER HE WASN'T WINNING TOO MANY GAMES 9-0! MOST THE TIME HE WAS DEALING WITH GAMES THAT WERE 1-0, OR 2-1!
Dodger Dude - 13 years ago
His overall stats make it a, "No contest"!
Les - 13 years ago
Kershaw leads the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA, and he never once faced one of the worst offensive teams in all of baseball, his own beloved Dodgers! The Cy Young award should go to the pitcher with the best performances for the year, period.
Robert - 13 years ago
This award is for pitching excellence, nothing more. Kershaw has been the most dominating pitcher
Roger Huguez - 13 years ago
The pither with the best statistics categorally should win the award hands down. It shouldn't even be debatable. What does pithing for a contender mean? No matter what, every pitcher goes through the season competing against the same opposing pitchers. In fact. If that's going to be the argument. Kershaw deserves more credit. He could easily pitch a lackadaisical game if he felt his effort was going to be wasted. Who comes up with this baloney. Probably never played baseball in their life. Kershaw baby!
Elson - 13 years ago
Duh. Kershaw!
Vinman - 13 years ago
Kershaw deserves the Cy Young for all the reasons given. Plus he leads in almost every category you would want a pitcher to lead in. He's also so young but has made the most of his talent.
The fact that he has the lowest ERA combined with leading the league in Strike outs, that is a tough combination. Factor in that he has done this with one of the weakest hitting teams in baseball means he got low run support and had to make it stand up. That was what made Koufax and Drysdale great. They made the maximum out of the minimum. Kershaw is the same way.
Halliday, Lee and Kennedy do play for great teams but they had the support on both sides of the ball. Kershaw has done it all with little fanfare. And think where the Dodgers would be if you took away those 20 wins. It really wouldn't be pretty.
Bo Pollard - 13 years ago
Don't get me wrong, I love Kershaw and wouldn't trade him for any of the other three candidates, but maybe with such a close race he should be viewed as the number four candidate because he pitches in the most pitcher-friendly park for half his games as well as pitching in the weaker division than the National League East. However, on the plus side of the ledger, he leads the league in strikeouts and ERA for a team which would be far under .500 without him. Maybe the Diamondbacks would be under .500 also without Kennedy, but probably not. Nevertheless, Kershaw got my vote because the three pluses to me outweigh the negatives. He also was able to do a lot without much offensive support. The other three pitchers got to cruise to strong victories on many more occasions than Kershaw. Being a Cy Young Award winner should also mean being able to win the very tight games by finding a way to totally shut down the other team and win the 1-0 and 2-1 games.
ed tolbert - 13 years ago
Kershaw has accounted for 26% of the Dodgers 77 wins. That might remind folks of a pretty
fair LH named Steve Carleton. Without Kershaw dominating the Giants (5-0) the D-Backs
coasting to the division might look a little different. The numbers speak for themselves but no
other pitcher has directly affected the fortunes of 3 teams.
metalhd
steve c - 13 years ago
e-train...this is cy young, not mvp, and you're not supposed to get the runners in scoring position! apparently RISP may be better..but more score (ERA!)
i have kershaw just ahead, but i don't diminish kennedy's season nor that of the philly pair.
ratzorizzo - 13 years ago
Kershaws' stats are better and considering what he has been up against this year, he gets my vote hands down. I mean, who would consider only counting pitchers who are playing for a w inning team? Sorry, I didn't raise myself that way.
abc123 - 13 years ago
Just because Kershaw plays for the Dodgers doesn't mean he does not deserve the Cy Young Award.
steve c - 13 years ago
best era, most strikeouts, nuff said. the wins part is overrated, often depends on support, but without kershaw they'd be in 5th!
i acknowledge three other stellar seasons, kennedy, lee and halliday, but kershaw's is better... just!
E-Train - 13 years ago
Kershaw plays for the Didgers and Kennedy plays for a team that actually matters. Also Kennedy leads in era with RISP. Which means he is a competitor like Cy.
@E-Train
the cy young is an individual accomplishment, it goes for the best pitcher, not based on how good your whole team did, kershaw is the winner hands down no argument enough said.
It's Kershaw, and it's NOT even close. NO other starter has gone head to head with Tim and beaten him all 4 times, and is 5-0 against the Giants. The fact the bullpen blew 3 wins in the first 3 months adds some validity as well. If he had the Philli offense behind him, he'd be 27-2.
Clayton deserves the CY YOUNG for sure! The Dodgers had better take care of him and his contract.
Cy Young Award is for the best overall pitcher, who is Kershaw. An award for Most Valuable would question a player's team standing, since with a poor team no player can be considered so valuable as one who is contributing to a contending team. Someone mentioned "pitcher-friendly" ball park trying to diminish Kershaw's acheivements in all the pitching categories, but then there was the other team's pitcher pitching in the same pitcher friendly ballpark. Take Lincicum who has lost all three times he went up against Kershaw, ask him, if he thinks Kershaw had it easy?
The fact that Kershaw plays for the Dodgers, who have been weak hitting through much of the year, makes his accomplishment even more impressive. He had to earn his wins more so than other candidates. His stats show that.
Kershaw easy. If he pitched for other teams he would have 27 wins. His ERA, Strike-out lead speaks to him being the best. He should win.
IF IT WASN'T FOR THE BULLPEN AND DEFENSE KERSHAW WOULD HAVE THREE MORE WINS! AND THIS IS WITH A NOT SO POTENT OFFENSE. REMEMBER HE WASN'T WINNING TOO MANY GAMES 9-0! MOST THE TIME HE WAS DEALING WITH GAMES THAT WERE 1-0, OR 2-1!
His overall stats make it a, "No contest"!
Kershaw leads the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA, and he never once faced one of the worst offensive teams in all of baseball, his own beloved Dodgers! The Cy Young award should go to the pitcher with the best performances for the year, period.
This award is for pitching excellence, nothing more. Kershaw has been the most dominating pitcher
The pither with the best statistics categorally should win the award hands down. It shouldn't even be debatable. What does pithing for a contender mean? No matter what, every pitcher goes through the season competing against the same opposing pitchers. In fact. If that's going to be the argument. Kershaw deserves more credit. He could easily pitch a lackadaisical game if he felt his effort was going to be wasted. Who comes up with this baloney. Probably never played baseball in their life. Kershaw baby!
Duh. Kershaw!
Kershaw deserves the Cy Young for all the reasons given. Plus he leads in almost every category you would want a pitcher to lead in. He's also so young but has made the most of his talent.
The fact that he has the lowest ERA combined with leading the league in Strike outs, that is a tough combination. Factor in that he has done this with one of the weakest hitting teams in baseball means he got low run support and had to make it stand up. That was what made Koufax and Drysdale great. They made the maximum out of the minimum. Kershaw is the same way.
Halliday, Lee and Kennedy do play for great teams but they had the support on both sides of the ball. Kershaw has done it all with little fanfare. And think where the Dodgers would be if you took away those 20 wins. It really wouldn't be pretty.
Don't get me wrong, I love Kershaw and wouldn't trade him for any of the other three candidates, but maybe with such a close race he should be viewed as the number four candidate because he pitches in the most pitcher-friendly park for half his games as well as pitching in the weaker division than the National League East. However, on the plus side of the ledger, he leads the league in strikeouts and ERA for a team which would be far under .500 without him. Maybe the Diamondbacks would be under .500 also without Kennedy, but probably not. Nevertheless, Kershaw got my vote because the three pluses to me outweigh the negatives. He also was able to do a lot without much offensive support. The other three pitchers got to cruise to strong victories on many more occasions than Kershaw. Being a Cy Young Award winner should also mean being able to win the very tight games by finding a way to totally shut down the other team and win the 1-0 and 2-1 games.
Kershaw has accounted for 26% of the Dodgers 77 wins. That might remind folks of a pretty
fair LH named Steve Carleton. Without Kershaw dominating the Giants (5-0) the D-Backs
coasting to the division might look a little different. The numbers speak for themselves but no
other pitcher has directly affected the fortunes of 3 teams.
metalhd
e-train...this is cy young, not mvp, and you're not supposed to get the runners in scoring position! apparently RISP may be better..but more score (ERA!)
i have kershaw just ahead, but i don't diminish kennedy's season nor that of the philly pair.
Kershaws' stats are better and considering what he has been up against this year, he gets my vote hands down. I mean, who would consider only counting pitchers who are playing for a w inning team? Sorry, I didn't raise myself that way.
Just because Kershaw plays for the Dodgers doesn't mean he does not deserve the Cy Young Award.
best era, most strikeouts, nuff said. the wins part is overrated, often depends on support, but without kershaw they'd be in 5th!
i acknowledge three other stellar seasons, kennedy, lee and halliday, but kershaw's is better... just!
Kershaw plays for the Didgers and Kennedy plays for a team that actually matters. Also Kennedy leads in era with RISP. Which means he is a competitor like Cy.