Posted by Brian Joseph on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 9:46 pm

The two pitcher awards in the American and National League produced the least amount of candidates among the four awards BDD voted on. Just five AL and five NL pitchers received votes for our Cy Young selections with little surprise in the decision made based on the ballots cast in the American League.

From his season debut, Kansas City’s Zack Greinke quickly became the front-runner for the AL Cy Young. With six scoreless innings on April 8th in Chicago, Greinke continued to pile up goose eggs with 24 straight scoreless innings to start off the season and 29 straight without an earned run. Greinke was 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in April and was named BDD’s Pitcher of the Month and some were ready to give Greinke the Cy Young Award already. For those unsure, the 25-year-old (he turned 26 on October 21st) kept his ERA under 2.00 through June and was 10-3 with a 1.95 ERA through three months. Despite a winless July, Greinke continued to impress and bounced back with a strong final two months which included winning his final five decisions.

Cumulatively, Greinke posted a 16-8 record with 79% quality starts and an average game score of 63 over 33 starts. Zack led the AL in ERA (2.16), WHIP (1.073) and HR/9 (0.432). In addition, his 242 strikeouts in 229-1/3 innings, six complete games and three shutouts were all second best in the American League. His 9.4 WAR was the highest in baseball and 6.07 WPA was also baseball’s best. Greinke’s 88.5 VORP was the best for a pitcher and third-best among all players (behind Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer) in 2009.

Following Greinke was Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. The American League leader in wins (19) and winning percentage (.792), King Felix had a 2.49 ERA with a 1.135 WHIP over 238-2/3 innings. Hernandez topped 200 strikeouts — with 217 — for the first time in his career and registered a quality start in an impressive 85% of his 34 starts. The Mariners were 25-9 when Hernandez took the hill compared to 60-68 when any other Seattle pitcher started. Hitters were a brutal .227/.287/.318 against Felix which was one of the few areas where he trumped our selection for AL Cy Young.

Third-place finisher CC Sabathia was the only pitcher to receive a first-place vote other than Greinke but, unlike the Royals pitcher who appeared on all 15 ballots and Hernandez who received 14 votes (11 second-place and 3 third-place), the new Yankees ace appeared on only five ballots. Sabathia’s impressive 19-8 record can be partially attributed to the team behind him but, according to Baseball-Reference, only one of his 19 wins were considered a “cheap win”. The ‘07 Cy Young winner’s 3.37 ERA and 1.148 WHIP was not inflated due to playing in hitter-friendly New Yankee Stadium — CC was 7-2 with a 3.17 ERA in 15 home starts — and the big left-hander notched 197 strikeouts in 230 innings.

Tied for third was Detroit’s Justin Verlander. Like Hernandez and Sabathia, Verlander won 19 of his 35 starts while losing just 9. He was the American League leader in strikeouts with 269 in 240 innings — the most in the American League since Pedro Martinez struck out 284 in 2000. Most impressive about his league leading wins total is that the Tigers ace led the AL in losses just one year prior.

Rounding out the AL voting was Toronto’s Roy Halladay who appeared on six ballots. The ‘03 Cy Young winner went 17-10 in 32 starts and posted an ERA under 3.00 — at 2.79 — for the second consecutive season. His impressive 5.94 K/BB was the best in the American League and nine complete games and four shutouts were also the league’s best. It was the fifth time Halladay led the AL in complete games.

Here’s what the BDD team had to say:

Bill Baer
For a look at Baer’s ballot and commentary on the Cy Young, check out his post at BDD here.

Brian Joseph
“For a long time, King Felix was my Cy Young choice. The way the team performed with him on the mound compared to the rest of the staff really caught my attention. However, after a close examination of Greinke vs. Hernandez, it was clear that Zack was the better of the two.”

Eric Polsky
“Grienke took a hold of this award with his stellar start to the season (6-0, 2 ER in 6 starts and never looked back. There is also something to be said for maintaining this level of focus on a team as bad as the Royals were this season.”

Zach Sanders
“Greinke was far too dominant this year not to win the award. If you bring up wins, I will have to slap you.”

Michael Street
“Greinke and Felix are clearly the top two. Greinke gets the edge in ERA, WHIP, K/9, K/BB and his whopping 5.40 WPA/LI is tops in the AL and miles ahead of Felix’s 3.10. Halladay beats out CC for third due to his superior stats in the same categories.”

Doug Thorburn
“Toughest decision was at #3 between Verlander and Halladay, but I’m a sucker for K rate, and bonus points to the guy who played for a contender.”

Isaac Thorn
“Halladay and King Felix had great seasons… but Greinke is a no doubter!”

David Wade
“I’m not going to let Greinke’s little hiccup at the end of the year lose it for him, he was the best from day one. King Felix was great as well and I could have gone either way, honestly.”

Bo Wulf
“Greinke — the best year for a pitcher since vintage Pedro?”