Making A Case: NL Cy Young Race

R.A. Dickey might play for the lowly Mets, but he didn't let to get to him.

It's one of those awards you know? One of those highly debated awards that no one really understands the actual meaning of though all of the sports world has some opinion on it. Like the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the Norris Award in hockey, the Cy Young is a highly debated award more for what the meaning of the award is than the actual winner. 2012 hasn't been stranger to the award debate as two candidates have clearly emerged in the last few weeks as the only two deserving of the award.

On one hand we have R.A. Dickey, a sensationaly knuckleballer with the sort of control that makes his specialty pitch an unhittable phenomena. He just won his 20th game, despite Jon Rauch doing his best to try and blow it for him. Anyways, knucklers usually have a hard time finding consistentcy in their pitch, often throwing up 7-walk duds. Dickey has only walked four or more batters twice. Overall he's 20-6 with a 2.69 ERA and 222 Ks, both of which lead the NL. He's also tossed three shutouts including a scintillating one-hit/no walks performance as well. Statistically, Dickey is superior to Gonzalez, but Dickey plays for the Mets, a team that has been crawling around the NL cellar for more than a month. 

Gio Gonzalez comes in as the other competitor with a 21-8 record and 2.89 ERA. He's the MLB wins leader and NL leader in batting average against. Gonzalez relies on a vicious curveball that he somehow masquerades as a fastball (still flabergasted about that observation). Gonzalez, unlike Dickey, has been playing meaningful baseball all season and has been the best pitcher on arguably the best team in baseball. He also doesn't have to buck the historical trend that has left the knuckleball fraternity without a Cy Young.

So we've once again met a crossroads in the Cy Young Race. While I think everyone can (and probably must) agree that Dickey has the better stats, is it fair to give the Cy Young to a pitcher that's team will probably win less than 75 games? Gonzalez's team still has an opportunity to win 100 games and he is their ace, especially without Strasburg. The last Cy Young winner to play on a team that won less than 75 games was Tim Lincecum in 2008. But in 2008 there wasn't as strong of a competition from the second and third place guys, Brandon Webb and Johan Santana (Webb's ERA was 3.30 and Santana was part of another horrible Mets collapse). Here in 2012, Gio is giving the stat-driven Dickey a real run for his money. Right?

Gonzalez has only registered three no-decisions which could be looked at a positive or negative. In most cases that means a lot of innings, but Dickey has thrown 28 1/3 more innings. Consider the team Dickey plays for as well and you get six starts in which Dickey either lost a quality start or was given a no-decision. Gonzalez only registered four in that category. Because of the Mets ineptitude, you could say that Dickey's games were meaningless and therefore there was little pressure on him to put forth his best effort. Pressure busts pipes, especially on the mound. The Nationals on the other hand have played meaningful games all season and there was pressure on him to carry the load as the ace once the news about Strasburg's innings limit became relevant. But then again, the Mets haven't had a 20-game winner since Frank Viola did it 1990, so there's that pressure as well. Also, you've got to realize that by August Mets' fans were really only interested in every fifth day when Dickey toed the slab.

According to Wikipedia (yes, I know it's the most verified source) the Cy Young Award is given to "The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball, one each for the American and National Leagues." While it may not completely end the argument, it does give a lot of validity to Dickey's case. But I think the most important aspect to Dickey's sensational season is his control. No knuckerballer has ever been able to consistently master their craft like he has. Plus, Dickey introduced us to the rising knuckler which is mind-blowingly enjoyable to watch and even more devastating for batters attempting to hit it.

So while I like Gonzalez and think he would be deserving of the award in any other year, Dickey took us on a wild ride (literally) and brought us the most spectacular knuckleball we've ever seen. It'll be a hard pill to swallow for R.A. if he doesn't win the award because he was by far the best player on one of the league's worst teams and he didn't let the team's lack of talent bother him.

Perseverance, stats and a knuckleball dripping in filth will be the reason that R.A. Dickey becomes the first knuckballer ever to put his name on the Cy Young trophy.