Two Red Sox pitchers will get several votes from sportswriters for the Cy Young Award which will end up going to Felix Hernandez of Seattle or David Price of Tampa Bay.
Clay Buchholz emerged as an elite pitcher in 2010. He finished #2 in ERA at 2.33 & amassed an overall record of 17-7. Not bad for a guy who was trade bait each of the last 2 years. Each of his 4 or 5 pitches can induce an out, most notably his change-up. Because he pitched to contact Clay's strikeout numbers are down.
Jon Lester turned in a stellar year after a very slow start in April. He finished #9 in ERA at 3.25, had a 19-9 record, completed over 200 innings & struckout over 200. A real power pitcher in the mold of the 2007 Josh Beckett, his cutter is devastating to hitters from either side of the plate. He reminds me of a young Andy Pettitte.
Both Buchholz & Lester deserve a lot of credit for coming through in a year where they, in reality, became the #1 & #2 starters. We can expect both to continue to shine in 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment