Tuesday afternoon, at 2 p.m. ET, the Baseball Writers Association of America will announce its winner of the 2010 National League Cy Young Award. And though in other years this has been a hotly contested race, this year, Roy Halladay stands out as the clear favorite.
2010 N.L. Cy Young: Roy Halladay The Head Of The Class
The 33-year-old Halladay led the N.L. in innings, with 250.2 thrown over 33 starts. Over those innings, he posted a 2.44 ERA. While his ERA ranked third in the league, the leader - Josh Johnson - finished at 2.30 over 183.2 innings in a pitcher-friendly park. And the pitcher in second place - Adam Wainwright - finished at 2.42 over 230.1 innings in a neutral park. Halladay's blend of run prevention and stamina despite spending half his time in a hitter-friendly environment should score him big points.
Also likely to score him points are his league-leading 21 wins, his league-leading walk rate, and his league-leading strikeout-to-walk ratio. With a perfect game and a stellar reputation as a professional on top of everything else, it’s hard to see Halladay not coming away as the winner.
If Halladay does win, it'll be his second Cy Young of his career, having won with the Blue Jays in 2003. He also has a second-place finish, a third-place finish, and two fifth-place finishes.
The last Phillies pitcher to win the NL Cy Young was Steve Bedrosian in 1987. Last year's winner was Tim Lincecum, who this season saw his ERA leap almost a full run.
Likely to give Halladay a bit of competition will be Wainwright, Johnson, Lincecum, and Ubaldo Jimenez. It was Jimenez who looked like a lock when his ERA was 1.15 in the middle of June, but he came back down to Earth over the remainder of the summer, which all but knocked him out of consideration for the top spot.
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