That my pick for the NL Cy Young is none other then Jason Schmidt. I called it last year (when virtually *no one* did, not even espn experts), and while he didn't win it, he still finished better then every other NL starter. This year will be no exception. The award will not be handed to a closer, but to the man himself, Jason Schmidt of the San Francisco Giants.
Yesterday he just murdered the Boston Red Sox. He threw a complete game, one hitter, with nine strikeouts and only a pair of walks. Mind you that Boston is the 2nd best offensive team in all of baseball.
Why will he win it? Five Good reasons.
1. He got robbed last year getting beat by a closer, otherwise he would have held the honors. He has his eyes on the prize, and believe me, he is filled with determination.
2. He has one of the best strikeout/walk ratios in the league. Walking batters is a dagger in the contention for this award (ask Russ Ortiz), and it is something he does not do very much. This provides him with a suprisingly low ERA, as seen last season. This is a "reason" (ERA) in its own, but 6 good reasons doesn't have quite the same ding to it.
3. He can strike people out, even with his fastball, which has been known to reach triple digits. He has reached double digit strikeouts in 4 games thus far, and 9 in three other games. He is now tied with Randy Johnson for most strikeouts in the MLB, with 113.
4. He is consistant. He has just won his 9th straight decision. He will lose now and again, sometimes two in a row, but will always fire back with a winning streak.
5. There is more then meets the eye. Though he may not win more games then any other pitcher in the league, if you look over his season log, in almost every no-decision that he gets, he has a great outing. For example, so far he has had two of them, on both occasions pitching 7 innings and allowing only 1 run in each, with a cimbined 18 strikeouts. Dodger fans know what I'm talking about here.
Hatch, CZAR, BAMMER,*anyone* -- whats up... objections?
Yesterday he just murdered the Boston Red Sox. He threw a complete game, one hitter, with nine strikeouts and only a pair of walks. Mind you that Boston is the 2nd best offensive team in all of baseball.
Why will he win it? Five Good reasons.
1. He got robbed last year getting beat by a closer, otherwise he would have held the honors. He has his eyes on the prize, and believe me, he is filled with determination.
2. He has one of the best strikeout/walk ratios in the league. Walking batters is a dagger in the contention for this award (ask Russ Ortiz), and it is something he does not do very much. This provides him with a suprisingly low ERA, as seen last season. This is a "reason" (ERA) in its own, but 6 good reasons doesn't have quite the same ding to it.
3. He can strike people out, even with his fastball, which has been known to reach triple digits. He has reached double digit strikeouts in 4 games thus far, and 9 in three other games. He is now tied with Randy Johnson for most strikeouts in the MLB, with 113.
4. He is consistant. He has just won his 9th straight decision. He will lose now and again, sometimes two in a row, but will always fire back with a winning streak.
5. There is more then meets the eye. Though he may not win more games then any other pitcher in the league, if you look over his season log, in almost every no-decision that he gets, he has a great outing. For example, so far he has had two of them, on both occasions pitching 7 innings and allowing only 1 run in each, with a cimbined 18 strikeouts. Dodger fans know what I'm talking about here.
Hatch, CZAR, BAMMER,*anyone* -- whats up... objections?
