One of the more fun individual races to watch as we peer toward September is the National League Cy Young. Sure, there are other names worth mention in down-ballot context, but there is a very strong trio of arms sitting at the top. Let's check out the tale of the tape.
| Pitcher | W-L | ERA | ERA+ | WHIP | IP | K | BB* | FIP | bWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8-8 | 1.71 | 216 | 0.97 | 174 | 214 | 37 | 2.07 | 7.4 | |
15-3 | 2.13 | 196 | 0.97 | 169 | 169 | 44 | 2.66 | 8.9 | |
16-6 | 2.13 | 200 | 0.89 | 181.2 | 244 | 41 | 2.63 | 8.0 |
* includes unintentional walks only
It's really close and basically a pick-your-poison situation in ranking the three. The only truly bad argument would be to act like there's a definitive answer.
Tuesday is a big day when it comes to resume building, too.
CBS Sports HQ discusses: Scherzer-Nola Round 2
We saw Nola outduel Scherzer last week and we get a rematch between the Phillies and Nationals on Tuesday in Philadelphia. It's Scherzer taking the hill for the Nationals with Nola as his counterpart.
The Phillies pretty desperately need a repeat, too. They have lost seven of their last nine games and 12 of their last 18. Through Aug. 7, they had a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL East and now they are 3 1/2 games out. They are 2 1/2 out of the second wild-card spot, too. There's a month left, yes, but they could sure stand to stop the bleeding. Another Nola gem would go a long way in making that happen while also providing even more Cy Young resume-building.
We know about Scherzer by now. He's building a Hall of Fame resume. If he does win the Cy Young this season, that would be three in a row and four total. The only pitchers to ever win at least three in a row are Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson. The only pitchers to ever win at least four Cy Youngs total are Maddux (four), Johnson (five), Steve Carlton (four) and Roger Clemens (seven).
Meantime, deGrom gets a tough matchup himself. He's taking on the Cubs in Wrigley Field. The Cubs lead the NL in runs, hits, average, on-base percentage and OPS. They are second in doubles and walks and third in slugging. They went through a funk, but since acquiring Daniel Murphy have won six in a row while scoring an average of over seven runs per game.
Even more fun is that Mets ace deGrom squares off against Cole Hamels, who is 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA in five starts since joining the Cubs.
Quite simply, if you like watching aces work, there are two games in particular that should strike your fancy Tuesday night.
