Alright, before I get ahead of myself I would just like to inform everyone who isn’t aware that I am indeed an Atlanta Braves fan. You can say what you want about this article being “bias” and what have you, that’s fine. But like the rapper Lil Wayne once said, “Women lie, men lie, numbers don’t lie.” With that being said I will jump right into it.
The definition of the Cy Young award is, “An annual award to the outstanding pitcher in each of the Major Leagues.” The first Cy Young was awarded in 1956 and is now the most important award any Major League pitcher can achieve. Okay, now we have that covered. Everyone is well aware what the Cy Young award is and what it means.
I was sitting at work today, minding my own business when I received a text message. The text stated that the three finalist for the National League Cy Young award were; Clayton Kershaw, Jose Fernandez and Adam Wainwright. You are probably thinking that those three names are all fine picks for the award; to which I would agree. The only problem that I have with the list is that closer Craig Kimbrel was not among the finalists.
The definition of the Cy Young is that it goes to the most OUTSTANDING pitcher in each league. This article is not about Kimbrel just being the Cy Young, it is about him being in the conversation. Major League Baseball has officially put him out of the conversation for the second straight year by not even giving him a chance to be in the final three.
In 2013 Kimbrel was tied for the most saves in baseball at 50 and only blew four saves all season. He is one of 10 pitchers in history to record 50 saves in a season. Kimbrel has recorded 139 saves in his four year career (the first year being only 21 games pitched and one save) which is the second most of all time by a pitcher who is under the age of 25. He also led the league in ERA at 1.21 and was second in strikeouts per batter faced. Not only did Kimbrel record a ridiculous amount of saves but his ERA was the second lowest recorded by a closer who had 50 saves.
Kershaw had a great year and I understand that. What I don’t understand is what this award has turned into. There has been 27 pitchers who had lower ERAs than Kershaw historically. He had a great year but he didn’t have a historic season.
Kimbrel had not one but two straight years of history. Don’t even get me started on his 2012 season where he became the first pitcher to strikeout half the men he faced.
Overall all I am trying to say is that Major League Baseball needs to allow closers the opportunity to be in the conversation for the Cy Young. With the numbers Kimbrel has put up over the past three seasons it almost seems like it will be impossible for any closer in the future to win the award.
If players who have historically great seasons can’t win awards then what is the point of the awards? As a fan of the game I have to admit that I am utterly disappointed in the finalists over the past two years as far as the Cy Young is concerned. Have we seen the last of Cy Young closers? Unfortunately I believe the answer is yes.