Roy Halladay was named the best pitcher in the National League yesterday by a vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Roy Oswalt received one third-place vote, three fourth-place votes, and five fifth-place votes to finish sixth overall in the NL. Their co-worker, Cole Hamels, received zero.
Seriously? No votes from anyone? With all due respect to Bronson Arroyo – who had a decent year for the Cincinnati Reds – Hamels deserved at least that fifth place vote.
In late September, as Hamels was finishing up an outstanding regular season, looking like one of the top pitchers in the NL, myself and Mike Baumann wrote dueling posts as to why Hamels was or was not a Top-3 Cy Young Candidate. I’m sure we can both agree that the dude is at least in the Top 10.
It’s hard to disagree with the Top-5 pitchers in the ballot: Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tim Hudson, and Josh Johnson.
Here is a rundown of the rest of the starting pitchers on the list beyond the Top-3:
- Hamels: 12-11, 3.06 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 211 K, 61 BB, 185 H, 208.2 IP
- Hudson: 17-9, 2.83 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 139 K, 74 BB, 189 H, 228.2 IP
- J. Johnson: 11-6, 2.30 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 186 K, 48 BB, 155 H, 183 IP
- Oswalt: 13-13, 2.76 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 193 K, 55 BB, 162 H, 211.2 IP
- Latos: 14-10, 2.92 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 189 K, 50 BB, 150 H, 184.2 IP
- Myers: 14-8, 3.14 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 180 K, 66 BB, 212 H, 223.2 IP
- Lincecum: 16-10, 3.43 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 231 K, 76 BB, 194 H, 212.1 IP
- Arroyo: 17-10, 3.88 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 121 K, 59 BB, 188 H, 215.2 IP
- Cain: 13-11, 3.14 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 177 K, 61 BB, 181 H, 223.1 IP
What stands out? The wins, of course. Hamels has the lowest win total of anyone on the list, with the sore-thumb Arroyo grabbing 17 behind the best offense in the senior circuit. Hamels matches up quite evenly with Myers, Latos, and Cain. You could make the argument that Lincecum only made it by name. His ERA was a quarter-of-a-run higher than Hamels’ and his WHIP also slightly higher, while he did have a slight advantage in strikeouts and innings pitched. If anything, Clayton Kershaw also deserved a vote or two over Lincecum for having better overall numbers.
It’s a moot point and Phillies fans should be proud that Halladay took home the award and Oswalt finished a healthy sixth. However, the omission of Hamels on the ballot altogether is somewhat ridiculous. This is picking nits here with Hamels losing out on some fourth or fifth place votes, but the guy still deserves recognition. Instead, Bronson Arroyo gets it. Silly. Could it also be me looking for something to bitch at during a long offseason? Probably.
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