[the 'stache]

Chris Sale for Cy Young?

Hmm, that's really interesting. To be honest, Alex, I haven't looked at Sale's numbers in quite a while. Wow, what an outstanding season he's had. He's had a pretty spectacular start to his career, too. That reminds me, I need to buy his Bowman Chrome prospect auto before it starts to skyrocket like Kershaw's.

Question for you guys. I know that when the MVP candidates are being considered for the award, their team's making or not making the playoffs has a huge impact on whether or not they receive serious consideration for the award. But I don't know, historically speaking, if the same holds true for Cy Young voting.

Sale's White Sox finished at 73-89, so they were not in the playoff chase. But from a numbers standpoint, he's right there with King Felix.

Felix Hernandez: 15-6 (.714), 2.14 ERA, 248 K, 46 BB, 0.915 WHIP, 6.5 H/9 IP, 9.5 K/9 IP, 1.8 BB/9 IP, 5.39 K:BB, 2.56 FIP, 170 ERA+
Chris Sale: 12-4 (.750), 2.17 ERA, 208 K, 39 BB, 0.966 WHIP, 6.7 H/9 IP, 10.8 K/9 IP, 2.0 BB/9 IP, 5.33 K:BB, 2.57 FIP, 178 ERA+

Their numbers are remarkably close. They have nearly identical ERA, hits per 9 IP, walks per 9 IP, and FIP. Hernandez has more strikeouts, but Sale's strikeout rate per 9 IP is higher by more than a strikeout. But Hernandez has a very slight edge in both hits and walks per 9 IP, so his WHIP is better, 0.915 vs 0.966.

Hernandez has thrown 62 more innings. How does that weigh? You look at their metrics, which are both incredibly close-does a voter then think to himself "well, Hernandez was able to maintain that excellence while basically pitching 7 more games worth of innings.

I don't know. Seattle didn't make the playoffs, either, but they just missed, where the White Sox weren't close.

I think Hernandez wins the Cy Young, but Sale is right there with him. That could be the most interesting vote out of the four.