More Proof Jake Arrieta Will Win the Cy Young
If the results on the field aren’t enough to win the Cy Young, fellow ace and Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is also pulling for his teammate to win the award.
Congrats to my brother and teammate @JArrieta34 on what should be a Cy Young Award winning season! Now the real work begins! #LetsGo #NVRQT
— Jon Lester (@JLester34) October 3, 2015
Lester is right, Jake’s season was nothing short of spectacular, and his six innings of shutout ball in his last start of the season further cemented the best second half in baseball history.
Jake Arrieta lowers his ERA to 0.41 since August, the lowest ERA since ERA became an official stat. Via @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/OvyciG8aF4
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2015
But Jake still has a fair share of “experts” claiming he will not take home the highest pitching honor in all of the land. Count Ken Rosenthal amongst those who will click Greinke’s name for Cy Young.
ICYMI: Six of the eight awards races are practically coin flips. How I’m leaning: https://t.co/iWN5t5Kef0
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 1, 2015
Nevertheless, Jake alao joined elite company with his 22nd win of the season.
Wow this list that @JArrieta34 joined… pic.twitter.com/Keod0qbrEz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 3, 2015
Each of those pitchers went on to win the Cy Young award in those seasons. Will the same hold true for Arrieta? A lot of people think so, and the tide turned when he won his 21st game. One person who believes Arrieta will take home the NL’s award is planted firmly in Jake’s corner.
“He is going to win the Cy Young, I’m telling you that right now. It’s done. Jake Arrieta is going to win the Cy Young. It’s done. I’m just telling you it’s over. It’s absolutely over. It was over the night he threw the no-hitter in Los Angeles,” Rozner continued. “I know how this works and I’m telling you that was it.”
Barry is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) the group responsible for coting on this and other awards. To say he has a little insight into the process would be a little bit of an underscore.
Still wanting more proof, then look to the numbers against the biggest rival for the award.
Jake Arrieta – 22-6 1.77 ERA 220 ERA+ 229 IP 236 K 3 SHO 0.865 WHIP
Zack Greinke – 18-3 1.68 ERA 223 ERA+ 214.2 IP 192 K 0 SHO 0.852 WHIP
Both hurlers have posted great seasons, with just 0.09 points separating them in ERA and 0.013 points separating their WHIP. Jake has an edge in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched, while Zack holds an edge in ERA and WHIP. Nevertheless, many believe that Jake’s historic second half pulled him away from Zack, and Zack’s teammate Clayton Kershaw.
It was just a few short weeks ago that many believed both Greinke and Kershaw were ahead of Jake in the race, I had even wrote about that here. Since then it has been all Jake, and deservedly so. His 0.41 ERA since August 1st, no-hitter, and 22 wins has certainly put a stranglehold on the race for Cy Young, all of which might be too tough of a hill for either Dodgers pitcher to overcome with days left in the baseball season.
However the voting turns out, any of the three are well deserving, but all in Chicago are voting Jake in 2015.
