Bobby is currently the General Manager and Assistant Publisher at the Daily Statesman after serving his term as Managing Editor. He wears many hats in the office, including coordinator of all things online, but his real passion is sports.

Cy Young battle

Posted Thursday, September 10, 2009, at 8:54 AM

Which pitcher has had a Cy Young award winning season in 2009?

It looks like the St. Louis Cardinals are doing their part to wrap up the 2009 NL Cy Young award winner......question is which redbird hurler will win the prestigous piece of hardware?

The Cards have the distinction of having the best two pitchers in the National League this year in Adam Wainwright and 2005 Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter. Waino and Carp seem to feed off of each other's success. The rest of the pitching staff seems to feed off of the two of them and great pitching leads to great results. This is where Cardinal fans beam with delight as they brag about owning an 11.5 game lead in the Central Division over the rival Cubbies!

It is possible to have duel award winners....I suppose.....but highly improbable. Which pitcher will win the Cy Young award?

Let's look at their numbers for this year.....

Going into the September 9 game at Milwaukee, Wainwright leads the majors with 17 wins (17-7). He has the fourth best ERA in the National League (2.68) and is among the leaders in strikeouts with 169 while leading the league in innings pitched with 198. Wainwright has walked batters 59 times and has one complete game.

Carpenter trails only Wainwright with 16 victorys (16-3). He is number one with a ridiculous ERA of 2.16 and has 129 strikeouts and allowed only 30 walks in 166 innings pitched. Carpenter has pitched three complete games this season, including a 1-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against the Brewers in his last outing.

Both of these pitchers are worthy of the award, but......who wins?

Comments

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It is a tough call, but in my mind, ERA trumps win totals, so I go with Carpenter. Wainright has been awesome, too. The Cards are definetely on cruise control this year with their pitching.

-- Posted by chuckd on Wed, Sep 9, 2009, at 4:11 PM
As impressive as a 2.16 ERA is, can you imagine what it was like in 68 when Bob Gibson set the record with a 1.12 ERA? A true testament to one of the best pitchers of all time.

-- Posted by chuckd on Wed, Sep 9, 2009, at 4:13 PM
There's some more ball to play, so it will likely be settled on the field, but hopefully NOT due to some sort of "slump" !

If betting I would bet on an over rated name from the East or Left Coast to win it....Midwest voting split between these two and WHAM! a surprise from a media center. Can you imagine the face time these two would be getting if they wore a Mets or Yankees uni?

-- Posted by shannonhoon on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 10:17 AM
I agree completely with shannonhoon. Media attention is always slanted toward the big market team like the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers. As far as the pinheaded, elite media types in NY or LA or concerned, the midwest and anything else in between their 2 cities is just farm country, comprised of hillbilly hicks. That condescending attitude really irks me.

-- Posted by chuckd on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 12:20 PM
Individual accomplishments aside, the Cards have a great chance to go all the way this year, this is simply an AWESOME team, top to bottom. And if they were to happen to crush the mighty Yankees (AKA Pure Evil) in the Fall Classic, I for one will be dancing in the streets with joy!

-- Posted by chuckd on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 12:26 PM
Don't you mean Rapping in the streets with joy Chuck D!?

-- Posted by shannonhoon on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 1:18 PM
Rapping, Breakdancing, disco dancing, heck, I might even do the Macarena!!!

-- Posted by chuckd on Thu, Sep 10, 2009, at 2:25 PM
If neither of them win I am going to be severely dissappointed. Wainwright and Carpenter are an awesome combination for us to have in our bullpen. Lets go cards all the way to the World Series and the NL winning it for the second year in a row.

-- Posted by michaelc76 on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 6:48 AM
I'll have to go with Carpenter on this one guys. Wainwright is a close 2nd, obviously, but Carpenter is really in the game this year! Go Cards!

-- Posted by mrsdolphin on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 12:24 PM
This really is a toss-up. If Adam gets to 20 wins I would say that he gets the award, if he doesn't I'll have to go with Carpenter. Either way, I think a Redbird gets the Cy Young.

-- Posted by Park_Ranger on Fri, Sep 11, 2009, at 12:40 PM
I'd have to go with Wainwright. NO, I'd have to go with Carpenter. NO, I'd have to go with...love 'em both! I don't miss a game--even living 800 miles away. It's worth it to pay for MLB..anyone whose dog is named Albert P. can't miss a game! Next one will be Molina--or maybe Carp! I believe we can take it all again this year!

-- Posted by GONENOW on Mon, Sep 21, 2009, at 6:28 PM

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