The Felix vs. C.C. Debate

Let's get into the Felix vs. C.C. debate, or Cy Young American, if you'd rather refer to it that way. First off, at first glance, and even after looking at the statistics, if I had an actual ballot, I'd have to vote for C.C. Sabathia for Cy Young. Hernandez has just too few wins for me to consider him when Sabathia and Price had at least 20. If Felix had won 16 or 17, that would be a different story. So right off the bat, I'll state that I'd vote for C.C. But I probably would be wrong.

The case for Felix is so strong on most other categories that the numbers guy in me sees a stronger case for him, even though my paper ballot says otherwise.

Complete Games - Felix 6, C.C. 2
Innings Pitched - Felix 249.7, C.C. 237.7
ERA - Felix 2.27, C.C. 3.18
Strikeouts - Felix 232, C.C. 197
SO to W Ratio - Felix 3.31, C.C. 2.66
WHIP9 - Felix 9.52, C.C. 10.72
HR/9 IP - Felix 0.61, C.C. 0.76

In every category listed, Hernandez is out in front. So I'd vote for C.C. if I had one, but probably be wrong. At least I wouldn't be wrong in the National League, as the consensus candidate, Roy Halladay, is both the pitcher I'd vote for and the one who has the best stats, and the one who should and will win.

Halladay had the best season of any pitcher in either league, totalling a PEVA of 43.916, good enough to be the 4th best season in Philadelphia Philly pitching history and rank in the Top 50 of All-Time. His closest competitor in the race, Adam Wainwright, had a phenomenal year, as well, the 2nd best season in 2010 according to his PEVA ranking. At 20-11 W-L, 2.42 ERA, I'd have chosen Wainwright ahead of both Felix and C.C. if he'd been an American League hurler. But he wasn't.

For a list of the Top 40 pitchers according the PEVA, Stat Geek Baseball comparative index of All-Time player rankings, go to the Top 40 Pitchers of 2010 page at baseballevaluation.com.