With less than two weeks left in the regular season, most starters figure to get only two more outings in the year, if that. Baseball has also continued its trend of not having pitchers win many games considering only CC Sabathia and Adam Wainwright have a shot at 20 wins (both have 18). So coming off a win against the Red Sox last night, Zack Greinke solidified his position as the Cy Young winner in the AL.
Greinke pitched six scoreless two-hit innings to continue his stretch of five straight brilliant starts in which he has a 0.25 ERA and 32 strikeouts against just eight walks. Prior to that five outing stretch, Greinke struck out 15 Indians in a 6-2 win. He has been by far the best pitcher in baseball this year there shouldn’t even be an argument. But since there is one, let’s list all the reasons why he should be the undisputed winner.
Greinke’s 2.08 ERA is not just the best in the AL, it’s the best in all of baseball, by a strong margin. His WHIP is tops in the AL, he’s second to Justin Verlander in strikeouts, second to Roy Halladay in complete games, and the only pitcher in baseball with three shutouts. Yes Greinke’s win-loss record isn’t stellar at 15-8, but consider that the Royals are the 5th worst team in MLB and nobody else has a standout record that blows you away.
In the end, you really shouldn’t have to look farther than Greinke’s super-low 2.08 ERA to know that he’s the Cy Young winner. Consider that John Smoltz, Brad Penny, and Cliff Lee all looked much better and posted strong statistics upon changing from the AL to the NL and you can see how much more difficult it is to pitch in the AL. Forget how few wins Greinke has — he is the best pitcher in baseball this year.
