Zack Greinke (RHP) of the Kansas City Royals was awarded the 2009 AL Cy Young Award according to mlb.com. Greinke was 16-8 on the year with a major’s best ERA of 2.16 who also posted 6 complete games and 3 shutouts. Greinke won the AL Cy Young despite playing on a last place team. Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez, the second place finisher, finished with 19 wins, three wins more than Greinke as did third place finisher Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers.
Every year there is at least one MLB award winner that is questioned and heavily debated upon, such as the Chicago White Sox’s Gordon Beckham finishing 5th in this year’s AL Rookie of the Year voting. However, I feel the BBWAA voters got it right in picking Greinke for this award. The Cy Young is awarded to the most dominant pitcher in his league and Greinke was simply overpowering with his incredible 242:51 K/BB ratio, league-leading ERA, and 16 wins. Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports’ Circling the Bases explains the significance of Greinke being on a poor team that provided little run support, ultimately costing Greinke 20 plus wins. Mike Axisa of mlbtraderumors.com also points out that Greinke posted the highest WAR, 9.4, of any player in the major leagues.
Joe Posnanski of SI.com did an excellent job of highlighting Zack Greinke’s rise earlier this year. It truly is remarkable how far Greinke has come and I am sure today he couldn’t be happier.
absolutely. Greinke was by far the best pitcher in the AL this year. Having those stats and record playing for the Royals is truly impressive.