For years the measure of a really good pitcher was how many wins he was able to rack up.
Last season, though, something happened: Zack Greinke of the Royals won the Cy Young Award despite only racking up 16 wins.
CC Sabathia currently leads the American League with 16 wins and has been the Yankees’ most dominant pitcher this season. This has some fans beginning to include his name in the conversation for the Cy Young Award.
The problem is, when you look at the numbers, CC isn’t really close at all at this point.
Here are the AL league leaders by ERA+:
| Rk | Tm | W | L | ERA | G | CG | SHO | IP | BB | SO | ERA+ ▾ | WHIP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clay Buchholz | BOS | 14 | 5 | 2.36 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 133.1 | 50 | 89 | 185 | 1.193 |
| 2 | Trevor Cahill | OAK | 12 | 5 | 2.50 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 140.2 | 42 | 81 | 164 | 0.981 |
| 3 | Jon Lester* | BOS | 13 | 7 | 2.80 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 161.0 | 55 | 165 | 157 | 1.130 |
| 4 | Felix Hernandez | SEA | 8 | 10 | 2.62 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 189.0 | 52 | 172 | 154 | 1.138 |
| 5 | Cliff Lee* | TOT | 10 | 6 | 2.77 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 169.0 | 10 | 147 | 150 | 0.947 |
| 6 | David Price* | TBR | 15 | 5 | 2.85 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 151.2 | 64 | 141 | 148 | 1.259 |
| 7 | C.J. Wilson* | TEX | 11 | 5 | 3.19 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 149.1 | 70 | 116 | 136 | 1.239 |
| 8 | Jered Weaver | LAA | 11 | 8 | 3.11 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 168.0 | 43 | 186 | 135 | 1.095 |
| 9 | Jeff Niemann | TBR | 10 | 3 | 3.12 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 141.1 | 44 | 102 | 135 | 1.167 |
| 10 | Colby Lewis | TEX | 9 | 9 | 3.28 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 148.1 | 49 | 150 | 132 | 1.153 |
| 11 | John Danks* | CHW | 12 | 8 | 3.33 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 162.1 | 49 | 125 | 130 | 1.146 |
| 12 | Jason Vargas* | SEA | 9 | 5 | 3.15 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 145.2 | 42 | 92 | 128 | 1.195 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia* | NYY | 16 | 5 | 3.12 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 181.2 | 61 | 143 | 128 | 1.244 |
Sabathia is ranked 13th on this list despite leading the league in wins. Yes, at times Sabathia has been dominant this season, but other times he has merely been average, and the Yankees’ potent offense has managed to snag him a couple extra wins here and there.
So despite the fact that he could finish with 20 wins for the first time in his career, Sabathia’s 2010 campaign pales in comparison to the likes of Clay Buchholz, Felix Hernandez, and even David Price.
Perhaps it is possible that things could change between now and the end of the season, but Sabathia would have to go on one hell of a tear.
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