MLB Awards: Top 5 NL Cy Young candidates through June
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
While Max Scherzer is certainly in the conversation for this award, there’s many Chicago Cubs fans who likely wish Jon Lester was too. Or maybe they would have preferred for Theo Epstein to just have signed the better of the two talented former free agents, instead of the cheaper of the two.
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Lester has a poor .400 winning percentage, his ERA (3.74) ranks 27th amongst all starting pitchers in the National League and his WHIP is the highest it has been since his 2012 season. Lester can’t even be called the best pitcher in the Cubbies’ rotation this year. That honor would have to go to Jake Arrieta (8-5, 2.80) or maybe even Jason Hammel (5-4, 2.89). But at least Lester has stayed healthy and his club is currently eight games above .500.
For as well as any individual has pitched this year in the NL, the St. Louis Cardinals as a group have been outstanding. If this were not an individual award, the Cards’ rotation would hands down be the frontrunners. Their starters collectively have an MLB best 2.79 ERA, the only such group not hovering above a 3.00 mark.
It’s tough to leave a Cardinals starter off this list, as Michael Wacha made the cut in the previous months edition. So to appease any St. Louis fans, let’s just state the obvious — your rotation is very good (even without Adam Wainwright) and there are three contenders in the rotation with Wacha, Lance Lynn and Carlos Martinez who could make a strong push in the second half for this award and probably one in your bullpen with Trevor Rosenthal. All four are deserving of honorable mentions. So too is the former Cardinal-turned-Brave, Shelby Miller.
Next: Number 5