The Kings did not have a very strong pitching staff, top to bottom. Yet they finished with an impressive 37.5 pitching points on their way to a DTBL Championship. It took a couple pitchers having elite seasons for them to reach that mark. Perhaps more so than any other player, Max Scherzer was hugely responsible for the Kings winning their sixth league title. In a unanimous decision, Scherzer is the 2016 DTBL Cy Young award winner.
Scherzer was the DTBL’s lone 20 game winner. He also led the league in strikeouts with a career high 284. In fact, that total was 33 more than any other pitcher. That strikeout edge was the primary reason why he also led the league in pitching PAR at 13.2. His 2.96 ERA and 0.968 WHIP were also among the top five in the league. In a season that saw the era of pitching domination come to an abrupt end, Scherzer continued to baffle hitters.
The Kings acquired Scherzer in a trade from the Jackalope back in 2010. Six years later, that trade continues to pay major dividends. Not coincidentally, his two best seasons have come during Kings championship campaigns. His 2016 numbers were nearly identical to the numbers he posted in 2013, when he finished second in the Cy Young vote. He won 21 games in ’13 with a slightly lower ERA compared to this year. However, his ’16 WHIP and strikeout numbers were better. For his career, he has won 111 games (all but two coming as a member of the Kings) with an impressive 3.27 ERA and 1,546 strikeouts. This is Scherzer’s first Cy Young award. As mentioned, he finished second in the 2013 vote and came in fourth place a year ago.
Although there were several other pitchers who had great seasons, Scherzer was the clear choice for this award. He received all ten first place votes. After him, there were a slew of pitchers who received strong consideration and finished very close to one another in the vote. Cougars lefty Madison Bumgarner wound up finishing second, despite not appearing on two ballots. He garnered three second place votes and 42 total points. Besides Scherzer, the only other pitcher to appear on every ballot was the Choppers’ Jon Lester. Lester only received two second place votes though, causing Bumgarner to finish two points higher. Yet another southpaw finished fourth, Mavericks ace Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw was a difficult case for voters to consider because he missed significant time due to a back injury. Yet he still wound up finishing second in pitching PAR and had unbelievable numbers across the board. This almost certainly would have been his third Cy Young win had he stayed healthy. It was his sixth straight season finishing in the top four of the vote, but his lowest finish since not receiving votes in 2010. Rounding out the top five is another key piece of the Kings championship team, veteran Justin Verlander. I can’t wait to see what kind of backlash we receive from Kate Upton for voting Verlander fifth. It was also a strong year for relief pitchers, but it continues to be difficult for them to get much consideration for this award. Kenley Jansen did receive a second and third place vote, however.
Click here to view the full voting results.
There wasn’t a whole lot of drama with the Cy Young award, but the Most Valuable Player race figures to be much more competitive. Check back on Friday to find out who will be the 2016 DTBL MVP.