Arms Race: Kershaw vs. Halladay
The 2011 MLB season has several wild races going on. The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves are fighting for the NL Wild Card spot while the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are fighting for the AL Wild Card spot. In the NL, there is also another race going on: the race for the Cy Young Award.
Kershaw leads the NL in wins (21), ERA (2.28), WHIP (0.98), strikeouts (248) and AVG against (.207)
Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers is having the best season of his career and has qualifications worthy of a Cy Young vote.
Kershaw leads the NL in wins (21), ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248). Kershaw is also tied with Cole Hamels for the best WHIP (0.98) in the NL.
Kershaw is also the NL leader in AVG against (.207) and is followed by Hamels (.212 AVG).
In my eyes, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies is the best pitcher in baseball and has been for years. Halladay is a warrior who pitches with the mindset of pitching all nine innings every time he steps on the mound. Halladay’s pinpoint control and robot-like consistency make him the most valuable pitcher and an ace in the truest sense of the word.
Despite Halladay’s incredible consistency and dominance, Kershaw’s dominance outshines that of Halladay’s this season in the overall body of work. In his 19 wins, Halladay had a 1.60 ERA; Kershaw had a 0.69 ERA in his 21 wins. Halladay was more impressive in his losses (4.12 ERA) and his no-decisions (3.07 ERA) than Kershaw was in his losses (6.99 ERA) and no-decisions (4.47 ERA); however, Kershaw’s overall body of work amounted to him leading the NL in wins, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts and AVG against.
Kershaw was also dominant against both left-handed and right-handed hitters, as lefties hit .178 and righties hit .213 against him; lefties hit .273 and righties hit .206 against Halladay.
Those who argue that Halladay is more worthy of the Cy Young vote may point out that Halladay had a 2.48 ERA in 15 starts at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park; Halladay did even better on the road, posting a 2.23 ERA in 17 road starts. People may also point out that Kershaw had many starts against the offensively challenged San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. If you eliminate games against the Padres and Giants, then here is how Kershaw and Halladay stack up against the rest of the NL.
Halladay vs. rest of NL
30 GS (17-6)
2.41 ERA
1.05 WHIP
Kershaw vs. rest of NL
24 GS (13-5)
2.66 ERA
1.02 WHIP
As you can see from the above statistics, Halladay – despite having the better ERA – and Kershaw both had very similar numbers against the rest of the NL. Halladay’s dominance at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park and the above numbers against the rest of the NL indeed help his case for repeating as the Cy Young Award champion this season; however, as I stated earlier, Kershaw’s overall body of work cannot be ignored. Kershaw is the NL leader in virtually every pitching category and is therefore worthy of the vote.
No disrespect intended to Cliff Lee or Hamels, but the Cy Young Award voting should be a two-man race between Halladay and Kershaw. There are reasons to support either pitcher; however, it should be extremely difficult to overlook Kershaw’s case. I believe Kershaw should win, and he would get my vote.
Christopher Wenrich is a senior fantasy baseball contributor for BaseballDigest.com and can be reached at philliesmuse@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DuggerSports.
My 2011 BBA All-Stars
As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA), I participate each year in several voting sessions during the course of a baseball season. It is now time to unveil my BBA votes for the 2011 MLB All-Star Game.
National League
C: Brian McCann
1B: Joey Votto
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: Placido Polanco
SS: Jose Reyes
OF: Matt Kemp
OF: Ryan Braun
OF: Matt Holliday
SP: Roy Halladay
NL Rationale: McCann seemed to be an easy choice to me, as he has the best offensive statistics among NL catchers at this time. First base was somewhat a tough decision as I contemplated between Votto and Gaby Sanchez. Both have similar numbers; however, Votto got my vote because he is heating up again while Sanchez has cooled off lately; furthermore, Votto’s .407 OBP is superior to Sanchez’s .376 OBP.
I reluctantly voted for Polanco at third base because he is in a major slump at this time. He has good numbers with a .289 AVG and 39 RBIs; however, his hitting is not as hot as it once was. Polanco hit .398 in April, .248 in May and is currently hitting .207 in June. Nevertheless, he is one of the best contact hitters in baseball when his game is on. He is also an excellent defensive player. No NL third baseman really has mind-blowing numbers this season, so Polanco gets lucky and gets my vote.
Jose Reyes was an easy choice at shortstop. Despite the New York Mets not being contenders in the NL East, I believe Reyes deserves to be mentioned as a possible NL MVP candidate this season. At this time, Reyes is hitting .341 with 61 runs and 28 stolen bases.
Matt Kemp and Ryan Braun were obvious choices for me in the outfield. The difficulty was selecting a third NL outfielder. I originally wanted to cast my vote for Lance Berkman; however, Berkman’s hitting has cooled off recently. His fellow St. Louis Cardinals teammate Matt Holliday has been a much more consistent hitter this season and is the focal point of the Cardinals’ offense while Pujols is on the DL. Despite an earlier trip to the DL, Holliday has a .330 AVG with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.
Roy Halladay gets my vote for the starting pitcher job. In the past few weeks, I felt the NL pitcher spot was a two-man race between Halladay and Hamels. After their most recent outings, Halladay edges Hamels in virtually every stat and is the NL leader in strikeouts; Halladay also has five complete games on the season.
American League
C: Victor Martinez
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Jhonny Peralta
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury
OF: Jose Bautista
OF: Curtis Granderson
DH: David Ortiz
SP: Justin Verlander
AL Rationale: although Victor Martinez splits time between catching and serving as the designated hitter, Martinez gets my vote for the catcher spot in the AL. Martinez currently has a .333 AVG, six home runs and 44 RBIs. No other AL catcher can match him in production at this time.
Adrian Gonzalez was THE most obvious choice for any all-star position on either team this season. Gonzalez is having a monstrous season and should be a unanimous choice for the AL MVP if the season were over today. Gonzalez currently has a .361 AVG with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs. Just as many expected when he was traded to the Red Sox, Gonzalez is putting up video game-like statistics in hitter-friendly Fenway Park. Should Gonzalez remain hot, there is a very real possibility of him winning the triple crown (a feat last accomplished by Carl Yastrzemski in 1967).
Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez were obvious choices for me at second and third base. Cano has no competition in the AL at the position. Although Adrian Beltre put up similar numbers to Rodriguez, Rodriguez has the higher AVG and gets my vote.
Shortstop is where it gets interesting: I originally planned to vote for Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians; however, Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta got my vote. Peralta has a higher AVG and his power numbers are similar to Cabrera, despite having many fewer at-bats than Cabrera.
Jose Bautista was an easy selection for the AL outfield. With the exception of Adrian Gonzalez, Bautista has been the best hitter in baseball this season. The Blue Jays left fielder is currently hitting .325 with 23 home runs and 48 RBIs.
Curtis Granderson and Jacoby Ellsbury also get my votes for the outfield. Offensively, Granderson has been the complete package for the Yankees this season. Granderson is currently hitting .276 with 21 home runs, 55 RBIs, 68 runs and 12 stolen bases. Ellsbury is hitting .303 with nine home runs, 39 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.
David Ortiz was an easy selection for the designated hitter slot in the AL for two reasons: (1) I took Victor Martinez out of consideration for it by voting him to be the catcher and (2) Ortiz has the numbers to back up the vote. Ortiz is curently hitting .311 with 17 home runs and 48 RBIs. He also has 20 doubles, a .391 OBP and .972 OPS. Ortiz may hit .300 or higher for the first time since the 2007 season. Ortiz is turning back the clock and hitting once again like an AL MVP candidate; unfortunately for Ortiz, an MVP will be impossible to win this season if teammate Adrian Gonzalez keeps hitting in Ruthian fashion.
Selecting a starting pitcher for the AL was no easy task. I juggled between Justin Verlander (10 W, 2.38 ERA, 0.84 WHIP), James Shields (8 W, 2.29 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) and Josh Beckett (6 W, 1.86 ERA, 0.92 WHIP). Although all three pitchers have superb numbers, Beckett’s downfall is that he had not pitched nearly as many innings as Shields or Verlander.
In the end, Verlander got my vote because he not only tossed a no-hitter (the second of his career), but flirted with a no-hitter several times this season. Furthermore, his 0.84 WHIP is superior to Shields’ 0.92 WHIP. Simply put, Verlander has been more dominating than any other AL pitcher this year.
Christopher Wenrich is a senior fantasy baseball contributor for BaseballDigest.com and can be reached at philliesmuse@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DuggerSports.
