Santana vs. Lincecum: 2008 Cy Young

First off let me say that if you had told me 2 or 3 weeks before the season ended that Tim Lincecum would have been the NL Cy Young I would have been extremely happy because at that point he did deserve it. I really did not want to see Brandon Webb (who I actually really like) win a Cy Young award that he did not deserve. However the rest of the season played out and the NL Cy Young ended up being Lincecum follwed by Webb then Santana, when in reality Santana should have won the award. Here Santana, Lincecum, and Webb's stats : QS/GS=quality starts/games started

Lincecum: 18 W, 227 INN, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 265 K, 26/33 QS/GS (Lincecum pitched 4 innings of 1 run relief in which he picked up a win on April 2; doesn't count as a start)
Santana: 16 W, 234.3 INN, 2.53 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 206K, 28/34 QS/GS
Webb: 22W 226.7 INN, 3.30 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 183 K, 24/34 QS/GS

Webb was only put into consideration because of his win total which is a huge problem with the way Cy Youngs are chosen. More emphasis should be put on ERA, WHIP, and QS/GS and much less on wins. I think that ERA is the most important statistic for a pitcher because it reflects how well a pitcher did what a pitcher is supposed to do: prevent runs from scoring. Santana had the lowest ERA in the MLB. WHIP is also a great indicator of how well a pitcher pitches because he keeps players off base. QS/GS is good because it gives the total number of games a pitcher could realistically keep his team in it to win. Sanata led the top 3 in each of these categories. Webb should not have even been in the top 5 in the Cy Young voting let alone top 3.

Some argue that Lincecum played on the Giants so his wins totals are amazing because he was on a bad team. First off, if anything playing for the Giants made it easier for Lincecum to pitch but more on that later. Lets take a look at the run support for Lincecum and Santana. The average number of runs scored in games Lincecum pitched in was 4.441176. The average number of runs scored in games Santana pitched in was 4.735294. WHOA! Huge difference. The Mets scored on average 0.294118 runs more than the Giants in those games. Santana had 9 games where the Mets scored 0, 1, or 2 runs compared to only 7 by the Giants. Also there are 15 games that Johan gave up 3 or less runs that he recieved either a No Decision or a Loss. Lincecum only had 10.

Now as for why pitching for the Giants was more helpful to Lincecum is due to two big factors: pressure and media scrutiny. Pitching for the Giants who were realistically in the running for the playoffs did not pitch under the same amount of pressure as Johan Santana who was brought in to be the Mets savior. I can't even count the number of times I was watching Santana pitch and heard people say "He needs to win this one" or "This is why he was brought here." As for the media scrutiny, I do not live in San Francisco but I doubt that it is the same type of enviornment as New York. When there is a free agent possibly going to NY people ask if they can handle the pressure. You never hear that about SF. I actually believe that the SF media is just glad to have a bright young amazing pitcher on their team. Santana on the other hand pitches under a microscope every game because of the NY media and fans. Santana was viewed as a bust in the beginning of the year because he wasn't shutting every team out but was still pitching very well with an ERA in the low 3's. Santana was even booed after one of his games which he didn't actually pitch terribly in. I highly doubt that happened in SF to Lincecum.

Then there is the argument that since Lincecum is on the Giants he doesn't get to pitch against the lowly Giants while Santana gets to pitch against the Nationals. This argument is easily shot down when you take a look at the divisions. Lincecum pitched against the Padres (the lowest scoring team in baseball) 6 times, the Dodgers twice (24th highest scoring), and the Nationals once (the 3rd lowest scoring). Santana however pitched against the Giants only once (2nd lowest scoring), the Padres twice, Dodgers once, and the Nationals 3 times. Colorado and Arizona are also in the lower half of the league in scoring (18th and 20th) who Linceucm faced 6 and 4 times. Santana only faced Arizona twice and did not get to pitch against the Rockies. On the other hand Santana faced the Phillies (9th highest scoring team) 5 times and Yankees twice (10th highest) while Lincecum only faced the Phillies twice. The Marlins and Braves are in the middle of the pack offensively (14th and 16th) who Santna faced 3 times each while Lincecum only faced the Braves twice and Marlins none at all.

Let's also add that Santana pitched the last month of the season with an injured knee and did not tell anyone about it. He got surgery a week after the season ended. Santana also pitched an absolutely historic gem on the second to last day of the season on 3 days rest to keep the Mets' post-season hopes alive.

Lincecum had more strike outs than Santana but K's are just a flashy statistic. Fans like lots of runs scored, lots of strike outs, and lots of home runs. The Rangers scored the most runs, Detriot hit the most home runs (FLA 3rd), and AJ Burnett had the 3rd most strike outs. None of those 3 teams made the playoffs and Burnett wasn't that great this year. While flashiness is fun and draws fans into the stands, it doesnt always equate to wins. Santana finished 5th in baseball in K's by the way so it's not like he had none.

Anyway in conclusion, Johan Santana should have been the NL Cy Young Award winner. Lincecum had an amazing season and has a bright future ahead of him but his season was not as good or as valuable as Santana's. Webb shouldn't have been in the top 5 for Cy Young.