Comments on: AL Cy Young Fallout

By: Craig Brown

Craig Brown — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:50:39 +0000

Bill - Quality South Park reference. I'm with you on Felix deserving of consideration of a first place vote. After him and Greinke, the other three can fight it out for places three through five. I would have ordered them: Greinke Hernandez Verlander Halladay Sabathia

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By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:51:04 +0000

@Craig Brown - An intervention must be had if Greinke starts playing Guitar Hero. It's only a short leap before it becomes Heroin Hero! (Obligatory South Park reference) On Kornacki's "stats," Verlander had a 4.20 ERA in those four starts with 120-plus pitches, so it's not like he became Bob Gibson. I can see a first-place argument being made for Felix Hernandez, though it is still weak at its foundation. I cannot see such arguments being made for another AL pitchers, however. There's a clear gap between Greinke and Hernandez and the rest of the contenders (Verlander, Sabathia, etc.).

Reply - @Craig Brown<\/a> - An intervention must be had if Greinke starts playing Guitar Hero. It\'s only a short leap before it becomes Heroin Hero!\r\n\r\n(Obligatory South Park reference)\r\n\r\nOn Kornacki\'s \"stats,\" Verlander had a 4.20 ERA in those four starts with 120-plus pitches, so it\'s not like he became Bob Gibson.\r\n\r\nI can see a first-place argument being made for Felix Hernandez, though it is still weak at its foundation. I cannot see such arguments being made for another AL pitchers, however. There\'s a clear gap between Greinke and Hernandez and the rest of the contenders (Verlander, Sabathia, etc.).'); return false;">Quote

By: Craig Brown

Craig Brown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:09:37 +0000

I'm sure Kornacki has gotten his name out there because of his vote, but I'll take his explanation at face value. Things like this will happen annually until the process is changed. And since the voters are the one's in charge of the process, I'm not exactly holding my breath. Greinke began his transformation when he pitched out of the bullpen in the minors in 2006 and in the majors for part of 2007. It was in the relief role where he learned to "harness" the power of his fastball. He's spoken of this a number of times where he was able to let loose because he knew he was only pitching an inning or so no matter what, as opposed to going deep into games as a starter. Before his time in the pen, he was striking out about 6 batters per 9. In the two years since, he's getting close to 9 K's per 9. And I'm not worried about Greinke playing World of Warcraft. He could be playing Guitar Hero.

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