So this is exciting, right!
When Cy Youngs have a Cy-off
Rob Carr
The matchup between R.A. Dickey and David Price will mark the 3rd time reigning Cy Young winners have faced each other. #BlueJays #Rays
— STATS LLC (@STATS_MLB) May 9, 2013
I mean, this is just something you all gotta watch, right?
Well, I’ll be watching. But it’s not completely unfair to mention that this match-up would have seemed a lot more interesting on Opening Day, when Dickey and Price still glowed with Cy Young Award sheen, unsullied by anything less than brilliance.
Now, of course, there’s this:
Price? 1-3, 6.25
Dickey? 2-5, 5.36
Huh. Did. Not. See. That. Coming.
The good news for Price is that he seems generally fine. His strikeouts and walks are exactly in line with last season (and the season before). He’s simply given up eight home runs in seven starts, which is three or four more than we would have expected. Three or four pitches that wound up in the wrong place. In other words, there’s almost no reason to worry about David Price. He’s still one of the best pitchers in the American League.
Like Price, Dickey’s given up eight dingers in seven starts. But his problems run deeper: strikeouts are down, walks are up, and so his strikeout-to-walk ratio has plummeted by more than 50 percent. Sure, the American League’s a slightly tougher place to pitch. But it’s clear that Dickey’s angry knuckleball just isn’t working as well this season.
That’s probably to be expected, as Dickey’s 2012 was a Season for the Ages. But if he’s settling into an American League version of his pre-2012 self, a lot of people are going to be disappointed and the Jays’ already slim postseason prospects will take yet another hit.
Oh, in case you’re wondering about the other two Cy Young match-ups:
Thursday’s matchup between the reigning Cy Young winners is the first since Atlanta’s Tom Glavine faced Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees on July 15, 1999. The only other such occurrence was Aug. 28, 1989, when Frank Viola of the New York Mets opposed Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Glavine’s Braves beat Clemens’ Yankees, 6-2. The other game was a lot more interesting, as Sweet Music tossed a three-hit shutout to beat Hershiser and the Dodgers, 1-0.
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