SB Nation Awards #3: Cy Young

Jim's ballot:
1. Peavy
2. Webb
3. Penny
I just want to vent for a moment here. Peavy as unanimous #1, I can certainly live with - let's face it, I voted that way myself. But what jackass chose Tim Hudson, or worse yet, Jeff Francis as #2, ahead of Brandon Webb? I mean, Francis had an ERA of 4.22, which ranked him nineteenth in the league, only eight one-hundredths of a run better than Micah Owings [and even Mrs. Owings would likely not vote for her son]. Oh, before you mention Coors, I'll point out that his ERA was actually worse (4.24) away from Denver. Second-best pitcher in the NL? I really hope that it wasn't one of our friends at Purple Row who was responsible for that joke, or words will have to be had.

#1 and #2 basically wrote themselves on this ballot. Webb actually improved in most areas from his 2006 Cy Young winning season...but wasn't the best pitcher. Peavy was immaculate, keeping right-handed batters to a .174 BA; even lefties only hit .242. And, unlike his colleague, Evil Chris Young, Peavy was almost as good on the road as at home. The only real question was who got the third spot. Penny got my nod, based on an ERA+ of 151, trailing only Peavy and Webb, and some way ahead of the fourth-placed Oswalt.

Charmer's ballot:
1. Peavy
2. Webb
3. Harang
Oops, I knew I forgot to do something last night, and that was post my write-up! ;) Well, as much as I would've liked to vote for Webb #1, and as much as I do agree Webb had a better year numbers-wise than last year, Peavy was the better pitcher for a majority of the year. He was dominant, he had the numbers for it this year. I am not surprised a few people got second place votes over Webb (Tim Hudson? Really?!) but I am surprised that 3 people didn't vote for him at all! To me he was the clear #2 pitcher in the league.

I struggled with my #3. I considered Hamels and Penny, and while Harang's numbers aren't the prettiest, he's an underrated ace, and he deserves some recognition for what he's done to opponents and for the Reds.