2009 NL Cy Young Award

Winner: Tim Lincecum, Giants -- Story | Voting Results
User Choice: Tim Lincecum, Giants
Scott Miller's prediction: Chris Carpenter, Cardinals.
Note, this is a prediction, not a definitive statement. To me, you can split three guys up three ways for what I anticipate to be one of the closest NL Cy Young votes in history: Carpenter, his St. Louis teammate Adam Wainwright and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum. I'm predicting Carpenter wins based on his second-half momentum: 10-1 with a 2.06 ERA after the All-Star break. Wainwright led the NL with 233 innings pitched and in some quarters of the St. Louis organization is the choice over Carpenter to win. Lincecum's 15 wins aren't as many as Carpenter's 17 or Wainwright's 19, but he led the NL in strikeouts (261) and his .206 opponents' batting average was second only to the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in the NL. Lincecum has the credentials to win a second consecutive Cy. As I say, this one might demand a recount.

The candidates Chris Carpenter, RH, Cardinals With all of Carpenter's injuries the past few seasons, one would think the talk surrounding this pitcher would be about his promising future and how his career has been sabotaged. But that's not the case. Instead he sits atop the candidates for the 2009 Cy Young Award after he was already granted the 2009 NL Comeback player of the year. He was sidelined for parts of 2006, he missed all of 2007 and most of 2008 but he came back to pitch in 2009 and left any doubters amazed at how he was able to quickly return to the dominant pitcher who won the 2005 Cy Young Award. He hit the ground running, taking his first loss on June 14 and tallied an NL-leading 2.24 ERA. IP W-L SV ERA Ks BB 192.2 17-4 0 2.24 144 38 Tim Lincecum, RH, Giants Lincecum could be the first repeat Cy Young Award winner since Randy Johnson won four in a row from 1999-2002. He'd also join only three other NL pitchers to repeat the honor in back-to-back seasons (Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Sandy Koufax). While Lincecum won three less games this season, he lowered his ERA, opponent's batting average and walks total while pitching only 2.2 less innings. His 261 strikeouts led the NL (and was second in the majors) and he finished with the second-lowest ERA in the NL. IP W-L SV ERA Ks BB 225.1 15-7 0 2.48 261 68 Adam Wainwright, RH, Cardinals Unlike his Cardinals counterpart, Wainwright does not already have a Cy Young award on his resume, but he did add other postseason hardware. Wainwright became the first St. Louis pitcher to win a Gold Glove since Joaquin Andujar in 1984. He has continued to improve and remained consistent after converting from a closer after the 2006 season. He hit career highs in wins (19), ERA (2.63), IP (233.0), and strikeouts (212) -- of which his wins total and IP topped the league and his ERA and strikeout total was fourth-best. Now, we wait and see if Wainwright can duplicate his success in 2010. IP W-L SV ERA Ks BB 233.0 19-8 0 2.63 212 66 Honorable mention: Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies, Javier Vazquez, Braves, Dan Haren, Diamondbacks

Select Award AL - Most Valuable Player NL - Most Valuable Player AL - Cy Young Award NL - Cy Young Award AL - Rookie of the Year NL - Rookie of the Year AL - Manager of the Year NL - Manager of the Year Poll Who will win the NL Cy Young award? 26% Chris Carpenter STL   44% Tim Lincecum SF   28% Adam Wainwright STL   1% Other   Total Votes: 2822   Past Results Year Winner 2008 Tim Lincecum, San Francisco 2007 Jake Peavy, San Diego 2006 Brandon Webb, Arizona 2005 Chris Carpenter, St. Louis 2004 Roger Clemens, Houston Complete list