When looking at the battle between Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez and New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia for American League CY Young award, baseball fans need to ask themselves one question.
Is it Hernandez's fault the Mariners aren't very good?
The answer is a resounding no. With that mind, Hernandez is the obvious choice to win the award.
When making the case for Sabathia, a lot of people bring up his record.
Sabathia is 21-7, while Hernandez has only managed a record of 13-12. That stat appears to give the edge to Sabathia, but when you look at it, it doesn't say which pitcher is actually better.
Sabathia has a great record, but he should: he plays for one of the best teams in baseball.
Every night he gets run support from stars like Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher. Even with Derek Jeter's diminished production, he still benefits from one of the strongest offenses in the game.
Hernandez is considerably less fortunate. To call the Mariners offense pathetic would be giving them a compliment. Ichiro Suzuki is the only decent hitter on the team. After him, no one else is hitting above .265, and five of their starting nine are below .230.
Beyond that, Felix's numbers are considerably better in several key categories. He leads the AL in Earned Run Average and strikeouts.
Hernandez's 2.27 ERA is astonishing for a pitcher in the AL, while Sabathia's 3.18 ERA is impressive to be sure, but hardly extraordinary.
Durability has also been key for Hernandez, who leads the AL in innings pitched with 249.2. Quite simply, the man has been workhorse. He's been the sole bright spot on an otherwise wretched team.
Anyone can put up solid numbers on a great team, but Hernandez's performance on a terrible team is quite an accomplishment.
While Hernandez doesn't have the glossy record of Sabathia, he trounces him in just about every other category. He's the clear choice for the Cy Young award.
Photo: Photo courtesy of Clyde (@chemical.trails)
