NL Cy Young : Jake Peavy (1 Viewer)

[posty]

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Last year, Trevor Hoffman finished second in the National League Cy Young Award voting. This time, another San Diego right-hander may come in first.

Padres ace Jake Peavy, who led the National League in victories, strikeouts and ERA, has built an impressive case for what would be his first NL Cy Young Award and first by a Padre since Mark Davis in 1989. Hoffman finished behind Arizona's Brandon Webb last year.

Peavy's campaign vaulted into the national picture when he struck out 16 Diamondbacks in a game on April 25. He was selected to start the NL All-Star Game after going 9-2 during the first half of the season. The right-hander won seven in a row from July 27-Sept. 1 and had a 23-inning scoreless streak during that span.

Webb figures to be on the short list of candidates again, along with Brad Penny of the Dodgers, for the award.

Last year, three relievers finished in the top eight in the voting, including Hoffman, Billy Wagner of the Mets and Takashi Saito of the Dodgers. Saito had another impressive season this year, as the right-hander went 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA while converting 39 of 43 save opportunities in 63 games.

A reliever faces an uphill battle to win the Cy Young Award, as only five times in the last 40 years a non-starter has claimed the NL Cy Young. Most recently, Eric Gagne won as the Dodgers' closer in 2003. Other relievers who have won the NL Cy Young Award include Davis in 1989, Steve Bedrosian (Philadelphia, 1987), Bruce Sutter (Chicago, 1979) and Mike Marshall (Los Angeles, 1974).

The 32 voters on the NL Cy Young Award committee were required to file their ballots, listing the top three candidates in order, before the playoffs begin.

Here's a rundown of the candidates for the 2007 NL Cy Young Award, which will be handed out on Nov. 15:

FAVORITES

Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres: The right-hander won the NL's pitching Triple Crown with 19 victories, a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts. Peavy was also among the league leaders in no fewer than nine statistical categories.

Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks: Trailed Peavy in most statistical categories, but not by an overwhelming margin. The defending Cy Young Award winner is the ace of the NL West champions and led the league in complete games, shutouts and innings pitched. Webb's five consecutive starts (42 innings) without allowing an earned run late in the season helped Arizona move to the top of the division.

Brad Penny, Los Angeles Dodgers: A key reason the Dodgers stayed in the race after losing Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf to injury, Penny's glittering record (16-4) and ERA (3.03) make him a serious candidate. In 17 of 33 starts, Penny yielded fewer than two earned runs.

DARK HORSES

Tim Hudson/John Smoltz, Atlanta: Both had outstanding years and put up similar numbers, but not totals that would put either ahead of the favorites.

Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs: Won 18 games for the NL Central champs, but the right-hander's ERA was significantly higher than Peavy's and Webb's. Zambrano also worked fewer innings, had fewer strikeouts and issued more walks than each of them.

HONORABLE MENTION

Jeff Francis, Colorado; Tom Glavine, New York; Tom Gorzelanny, Pittsburgh; Cole Hamels, Philadelphia; Aaron Harang, Cincinnati; Ted Lilly, Chicago; Roy Oswalt, Houston; Takashi Saito, Los Angeles.

 

[wilked]

this one will be a nailbiter...

 

[posty]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

SAN DIEGO -- In hopes of "saving a few bullets," as he's apt to say, Jake Peavy once tried to remake himself into more of a pitch-to-contact guy, someone who took a conservative approach when it came to going after hitters.

That didn't last long, as the Padres right-hander quickly discovered soon enough that he just had to be himself if he were to be successful.

"I just feel like that's the way I've got to pitch," Peavy said during the season. "Be aggressive ... and that's the type of pitcher I am. I go as hard as I can for as long as I can and see where the cards fall."

On Thursday, a dreamy season got even better for Peavy as he unanimously captured the National League Cy Young Award, based on voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Peavy was listed first on all 32 ballots cast by two writers in each league city to score a perfect 160 points, based on a 5-3-1 tabulation system. D-backs right-hander Brandon Webb finished in second place and Dodgers righty Brad Penny came in third.

Peavy led the National League in just about every pertinent category in 2007 -- victories (19), ERA (2.54), strikeouts (240) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.67). Peavy also started the All-Star Game in July in San Francisco.

Peavy becomes the fourth Padres pitcher to win the Cy Young Award and the first since Mark Davis won the award in 1989. Randy Jones (1976) and Gaylord Perry (1978) also captured the award.

The 2007 season certainly represented quite a turnaround for Peavy, who was troubled in 2006 by shoulder tendinitis. He lost 14 games that season, posted a 4.07 ERA and never found a level of comfort when pitching.

Healthy in 2007, Peavy bolted to a fast start, beginning with six scoreless innings in the regular-season opener against the Giants. There were few hiccups along the way as Peavy won nine of his final 12 starts of the regular season with one loss and one no-decision.

Peavy certainly proved that his success wasn't just a result of his surroundings at roomy PETCO Park, either. In fact, Peavy performed better on the road, posting a 10-1 record with a 2.57 ERA in 15 starts.

Peavy -- who allowed one run or fewer in 18 of his 35 starts in 2007 -- is just the fourth player in Major League history to win two ERA titles before the age of 27.

To be sure, 2007 was filled with highlights for the 26-year-old, who is under contract for the next two seasons.

On April 25 against Arizona, Peavy struck out a season-high 16 batters, coming one strikeout away from tying Tom Seaver's National League mark of 10 consecutive strikeouts. In a stretch in April and May, Peavy struck out 46 batters in a span of four starts.

On Aug. 27, Peavy became the franchise leader in career strikeouts when he struck out 11 in a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks.

"It's special," Peavy said at the time. "Not many people even these days stay with an organization to do something like that. I feel privileged to be here long enough to do something like that. I tell people all the time, I'm proud to be a San Diego Padre."

Peavy won four starts in September to keep the Padres in the running for a spot in the playoffs. But he lasted only 6 1/3 innings on Oct. 1 in the Wild Card playoff against the Rockies, which was one of the few occasions when he was hit hard in 2007.

"He's got great stuff," Padres catcher Josh Bard said. "He's not trying to out-trick guys. I know it's hard to say sometimes when you see Jake and he's grunting and spitting, doing all that stuff, but he's really taken focus this year on how to execute [pitches to] guys, and obviously he's got once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

"And when you're able to do that and throw the ball where you want to ... it's a pretty tough combination."

Peavy was paid the ultimate compliment by Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who was asked in September what he thought of his team's chances in big games with Peavy on the mound.

"If it's a deciding game," Towers said, "there's nobody in baseball I'd rather have on the mound than Jake Peavy."

 

[ack34]

Hard to argue with this selection. The writers have picked the right Cy Young winners and Managers of the Year.