Pitcher of the Year…

Pitcher of the year is often disputed because there are so many different routes to take in evaluating a pitcher and even a little added subjectivity. This always brings about frustration from at least one fan base, who obviously feels that their pitcher specifically was the best, where as others believe otherwise. Then we get into the argument of “The stats don’t really explain or show you how dominate they are.”  This is kind of what my take of what is going on in the case of Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia and Jared Weaver for Cy Young.

It may not actually be the case, but then again it’s how I perceive it. And really isn’t perception reality? At least that’s what we’re all told anyways.

Yes, when I start my research on these pitchers I start in Fangraphs. Look, I’d love to say I’ve seen each of these pitchers pitch more than 5 times. But, the truth is I haven’t. I haven’t even seen Weaver pitcher more than twice.

Let me ask you, how I can properly take those 6 experiences and properly turn it into proper context and vote knowledgably without taking into additional resources? That’s what fangraphs — and really statcorner too—can do for you. They give you an additional resources because we don’t get to watch every game. That said, I didn’t rank my pitchers by WAR, rather in the form of tiers.

Before I get further into it here are my Fansided colleagues and how the votes came out, American League Pitcher-of-the-Year and National League Pitcher-of-the-Year.

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Okay so instead of breaking down all 10 pitchers, instead I broke everything down in the form of tiers. The name of those tiers follows after sit-coms that I particularly found to be fitting for that category. You might not like it but I found it humorous, entertaining and overall a fun exercise.

Tier – Arrested Development

10. Doug Fister – Mariners/Tigers

9. Brendan McCarthey – Oakland Athletics

The thing about Arrested Development, it was an under rated… for a little while. Now it seems a bit over rated. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It was a really good show, maybe even great at times, but now it just seems like it’s being a bit more romanticized.

Likewise, McCarthy and Fister are both really good pitchers and pitched extremely well down the stretch this year. That said, they certainly deserve of a mention, especially in a field this wide. But I wouldn’t say their elite, just merely good with really good seasons.

Tier – The Office

8. James Shields

7. Jared Weaver

6. David Price

Again, we’re talking under/over rated players here, great pitchers, who also had great years. But each with a specific under lying issue that bugged me and kept them from rating higher on my list.

I think that Weaver has a lights out curveball. But his fastball C2 (command and control) isn’t as cracked up as people make it out to be. Price really didn’t show up in a couple of pivotal games. Say what you want about stats but individual games have to matter at some point. Great pitchers distinguish themselves by stepping up in big situations. Jack Morris isn’t a HoF’er in my book, but he was a real good pitcher that stepped up in a real big way.

Shields finally got the exposure he needed, I feel like it made him one of those cool commodities that everyone wants or likes –such as an iPhone—but really is it all that better than Droid? Ah, but that’s when you bring Networks into play… I didn’t say anything about networks…it’s about the phones. Anyways, we’re getting off topic.

Tier – How I Met Your Mother

5. Felix Hernandez

Seriously, King Felix didn’t have a down year. STOP SAYING THAT. I’ve seen five or six different places say something along the lines of the following: “Felix – should rebound to Cy Young stuff next year” The guy was amazing. The only issue that I really saw was an increase in his overall HR/FB% from his past two years.

Similarly everyone is saying that How I Met Your Mother has peeked. Wrong. Marshall Erikson and crew are still amazing. It doesn’t get old. The zany Barney Stinson, the cheap shots at Canada and the masterful storytelling, there is no way it’s in decline. Say what you want. It’s not in decline and it’s not going anywhere as they have a 2 year contract. (Ha-ha, it works for trades AND being canceled!)

Tier – Psych

4. C.J. Wilson

3. Dan Haren

I know what you are thinking. “Seriously? Psych?” Simply said: “Yes”. It’s one of THE best TV shows out there. The buddy-buddy tag team of Shawn and Gus pretending to be psychic is so much fun. Their dialog, the 80’s references, simply making stuff up on the fly, the mentalist innuendos, it’s all extremely good and the majority of people HAVE NO IDEA how good it is or even that it exists.

Much the same CJ Wilson was extremely good. I’ve been trying to tell myself that if the Rangers loose Wilson they’re still the odds on favorite to win the West next year too. The problem with that is I think we all really don’t get how hard it is to pitch at Ballpark In Arlington. Derek Holland is good and so is Matt Harrison but to think they are going to make up the hole that is CJ Wilson should he go elsewhere you are kidding yourself. Wilson was a stud this year and in my opinion the third best pitcher in baseball.

As for Haren, he’s who I think should have been on the receiving end of an extension. I’m not talking about a 6 or 5 year deal, but a 3 year deal worth around 40 million dollar range. That’s really not that much to lock up a guy, who when healthy, is one of the top-5 pitchers in the American League. Who knows maybe they tried and he turned them down so they extended Weaver.  I don’t know details I just see a pitcher that goes unnoticed a significant amount since being traded to one of the biggest media markets in the country. It’s rare that there is ever an under hyped commodity that comes from New York or LA.

Tier – Community

2. CC Sabathia

1. Justin Verlander

Community is the best show on TV, period. If you haven’t watched it, you are doing yourself a disservice. My Mom, who is well…, my mom, recently started community college. I’ve been begging her to watch this show. It’s my secret fear that she turns out to be Pierce Hawthorn but realistically she’s Shirley, which fits her natural mothering persona. If you see my mom or go to college with her call her Shirley.

Like Community, you just can’t go wrong with CC or Verlander. Both had amazing seasons and both finished the regular season on high notes. I personally like Verlander better and it’s that personal preference that decided the between the two. But both had exceptional seasons, both are elite, top of the heap, type arms and true aces, if you will and both deserve to be recognized.