Yes, I know. Clayton Kershaw doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for an award. He’s yet to pitch since late June, but he might be close to a return. All signs indicate he’ll pitch again this weekend or next week at the latest, though. He should have a couple more starts to catch up.
And honestly, why not? There hasn’t been a clear front-runner for the NL Cy Young Award since Kershaw went down. And the 26-year-old lefty was having a historical season. Don’t believe me? Just look at his numbers:
11-2, 1.79 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in 16 starts. 145 strikeouts and nine walks in 121 innings. Hitters have a .148 average against him. That’s historically good. His K/BB ratio of 16.11 would’ve been an all-time best and he still ranks second in the NL in pitcher WAR.
There are other candidates to take home the Award in case Kershaw doesn’t bounce back, though. Kyle Hendricks has an MLB-best 2.07 ERA and has been the best pitcher in the best team on the Majors. Max Scherzer leads the NL in innings pitched, strikeouts and WHIP. Madison Bumgarner has been very consistent all year long. There’s also Johnny Cueto (14-5, 2.92 ERA), Tanner Roark (14-8, 2.89 ERA) and Noah Syndergaard (13-8, 2.48 ERA).
But none can even come close to Kershaw’s stellar first half of the season.
There are only two things that could prejudice Kershaw on their quest for a fourth Cy Young. One is the fact that he was out for more than two months. The other would be he doesn’t return as dominant as he was prior landing on the DL. Both are realistic possibilities at this point, and it’s fair to say Kershaw has a slim chance to win the Award. Bumgarner, Scherzer and Hendricks are the favorites for the award as things stand right now.
But whatever happens, we can’t forget his amazing first half of the season. It’s one that will go straight into the record books. And knowing his competitive nature, he’ll try to be even better in 2017.
The NL might want to prepare in advance.