Terrerobytes: Chris Sale is not a Cy Young finalist

Chris Sale was not among the finalists for the American League Cy Young, which is a bummer, but not entirely surprising. Rick Porcello, Corey Kluber and Justin Verlander are the ones being openly considered for the award that’s already been decided, and you can formulate an argument for any of them over Sale. Porcello won the traditional race by going 22-4 with a similar ERA over similar innings, and when it comes to advanced metrics, it’s a toss-up among the AL Central stars.

Baseball Prospectus’ numbers indicate that Sale probably could have run away with this award if he wasn’t kneecapped by his own catchers. Alas, he’s on the outside looking in, along with Zach Britton, whose agent is whining about it.

Buck Showalter said Britton’s absence "takes away a lot of the credibility" of the award. Showalter, of course, was the guy who found six relievers to use in an elimination game instead of Britton, and you’d think that wouldn’t be the case if Britton were so vital. That kind of strictly defined usage is why a lot of people have a hard time taking closers seriously as Cy Young candidates — they can’t affect the game unless their teammates have made conditions just right for them.

Showalter’s negligence was so egrocious that he inspired an overreaction in the opposite direction during the postseason to follow, with star relievers pushed to their breaking points in non-save situations. Now, should the extended usage of Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and other shutdown types bleed into the regular season, closers might be able to make a bigger, more regular dent with arguments more difficult to dismiss.

While the Condor didn't make the cut, Hawk Harrelson did in his field. He's one of eight finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award, and it seems like he's destined to win it one of these years.

Terrerobytes

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