American League Cy Young race

Johan Santana is quietly having a season more than worthy of a Cy Young award.

The Cy Young award is given to the best pitcher in each league, and Santana is clearly the premier pitcher in the American League.

The names of Pedro Martinez, Mark Mulder and Curt Schilling come to mind when you think of dominant pitchers of the AL.

Think again.

Minnesota Twins SP Johan Santana, 25, isn't even a household name yet. However, the batters he's blowing away sure recognize him.

The Venezuelan lefty is leading the AL in strikeouts by a margin larger than Ruben Studdard's lunch.

Most Cy Young voters seem to weigh their vote so that a large portion is based on a pitcher's record.

Wins and losses are important, but a pitcher's record can be deceptive.

While Santana's 13-6 record is solid, it looks feeble compared to Oakland's Mark Mulder, who boasts a 16-4 record and has the most wins in baseball.

It's a shame to baseball that the Cy Young is Mulder's award to lose at this point in the season despite the staggering stat differences.

Santana's name should already be engraved onto the trophy.

Santana has been so dominant that he's been touched with praise from a past Cy Young winner, Pedro Martinez. Martinez, along with his Red Sox teammate Curt Schilling, round out the top-4 Cy Young contenders.

It should also be noted that Santana's home stadium, the Metrodome (Minneapolis, MN), is a hitter-friendly park.

It's even more amazing that this is Santana's first year as a starter. Against all the odds, Santana has become the most dominant pitcher in the AL.



J. Santana

M. Mulder

P. Martinez

C. Schilling


W-L

13-6

16-4

13-4

14-6


ERA

3.23

3.75

3.78

3.60


WHIP

1.00

1.22

1.14

1.16


BAA

.205

.245

.239

.256


Ks

196

119

170

143


H/9

6.66

8.03

8.05

8.91


K/9

10.20

5.79

9.18

7.68


The numbers all but speak for themselves. Even Santana's losses aren't his fault.

The Twins have scored two or fewer runs in four of his six losses. This is coming from an offense that scores 4.66 runs a game.

Santana even lost a game in which he pitched eight innings and allowed only two hits.

So many voters vote with a feeling of, "What have you done for me lately?," but Santana will please that audience, as well as just about any audience.

He has an ERA of 1.82 since the All-Star Break.

During that same time period, Mark Mulder has an embarrassing 5.06 ERA, Schilling is pitching with a bad ankle and has seen his ERA at a mundane 4.89 since the All-Star game, and Martinez has shown streaks of dominance and then fallen back to earth. His ERA is 4.04 in the second half.

It's still a mystery to me why Santana is overlooked so frequently.

His numbers are marvelous, he's a great pitcher and he's young.

Hopefully, the Cy Young voters will open their eyes and clear the fog off of their glasses. It's not hard to see who deserves the award.

Notes: *W-L: Wins-Losses *ERA: Earned Run Average *WHIP: Ratio of walks and hits per innings pitched by a pitcher *BAA: Batting Average Against *Ks: Strikeouts *H/9: Hits allowed per nine innings pitched by a pitcher *K/9: Strikeouts thrown per nine innings pitched by a pitcher