Throwdowns > Forfeited

Argos. said 09/29, 04:54 PM
Who should win the NL Cy Young?

Sorry Kershaw, but it goes to Roy Halladay.

First, and most important, Clayton Kershaw got to play his home games in Dodgers Stadium (pitchers friendly park), and beat up against the terrible offences of the NL West.


Just look who Kershaw pitched against:

He pitched against the NL's worst offense (Giants) 6 times!
He pitched against the NL's 2nd worst offense (Padres) another 3 times.
In fact played top 10 offenses in baseball 12 times, compared to playing bottom 10 offences 15 times. A pretty even split. However, compare his numbers against top 10 teams versus bottom 10.

B10: 10-1, 1.69 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 4.87 SO/BB, 5 HR, 111.1 IP
T10: 6-3, 3.14 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 3.52 SO/BB, 7 HR, 77.1 IP

A big drop-off for Kershaw.

Halladay too has played more bottom 10 offenses (13) versus top 10 (8), but Halladay is more consistent. Both Kershaw & Halladay's average opponent ranks 17th in terms of offense. Here is Doc's breakdown:

B10: 7-2, 1.85 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 8.09 SO/BB, 3 HR, 97 IP
T10: 4-2, 2.99 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 4.77 SO/BB, 2 HR, 67 IP

Halladay is much more consistent


To top it off, Halladay has a 2.20 FIP, to Kershaw's 2.42

Argos. said 09/29, 10:47 PM
You fail to mention Halladay's league leading SO/BB ratio of 6.29, nearly 2 better than Kershaw. Or the fact Halladay once again leads the league in CG with 8 which is 3 more than Kershaw, or the fact Halladay walks less batters than anyone in baseball with only 1.3 BB/9.


However, nearly every stat you mention that Kershaw has the slightest lead in, is a factor of the terrible opposition and extremely friendly hitter park Kershaw pitches in, and beats up on.

Heck, just takeaway the 42 innings Kershaw pitched against Giants pathetic offense, and his stats are not all that impressive.

But first, Kershaw has a 1.18 ERA higher on the road! Dodger Stadium is a pitchers park, while Citizens Bank Park is a hitters park.

However, there are two stats in particular that factor in the ballpark and opponent. ERA+ factors out the ballparks, and Halladay has the advantage in the category.

The other stat that factors in the ballparks and opponents is FIP, and in that stat Halladay has a pretty big advantage of .24


Bonus stat for UH, cause I know how much he loves WAR. Halladay has a fWAR of 8.2 to Kershaw's 6.8, while Halladay has a rWAR of 7.4 to Kershaw's 6.9

Argos. said 09/30, 07:07 PM
How does the Giants have good pitching effect Kershaw? Who cares about wins? Unless they can hit good, which they can't, they have no impact.

But I'm down 11-3, I'll throw in the towel.