King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Introducing the Johan Santana for Cy Young Stat of the Day. Just kidding, but the Twins lefty does deserve it over Curt Schilling of the Red Sox. Plus: Barry Bonds for MVP Stat of the Day.

Sept. 22, 2004 | I've been getting letters from readers asking for a companion to the Barry Bonds for MVP Stat of the Day: a Johan Santana for Cy Young Award Stat of the Day. As amazing as it is for anyone to suggest that someone other than Bonds might win the National League MVP, these readers say, it's just as amazing to suggest that someone other than Santana, the red-hot Twins lefty, could win the A.L. Cy Young.

I'm not going to do a Johan Santana for Cy Young Stat of the Day, because the Barry Bonds for MVP Stat of the Day -- BB4MVPSotD to its friends -- is wearing me out and getting on people's nerves, which I count as a bad thing and a good thing, respectively. But while Santana hasn't been as dominant among A.L. pitchers as Bonds has been among N.L. batters, he should be the clear choice for the Cy Young.

Unfortunately for Santana, his main competition is Curt Schilling, who pitches for the Red Sox and leads the league in wins with 20. Santana has 19. MLB.com calls the Cy Young race between Santana and Schilling "absolutely intriguing."

Pitching in the A.L. East and leading the league in wins is a pretty deadly combination. Seven of the last eight A.L. Cy Young winners have come from the East, and four of them led the league in wins. To be fair, all of the win-leaders except Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays last year also led the league in ERA.

Santana's fans are fond of pointing out that he's been putting up Bob Gibson-in-1968 type numbers since the All-Star break. He really has been preposterous. In 13 starts since the break he's 12-0 with an ERA of 1.16, which is not a typo. And the Twins won that other game too. He's struck out 118 and walked 18 in 93 and a third innings. And so on.

And he's getting better. In September he's 4-0 with an ERA of 0.00. Hasn't given up a run in 30 innings. He last gave up two runs in a game seven starts ago. He last gave up more than two -- three -- nine starts ago. In September he has struck out 41 and walked two.

But so what?

The Cy Young goes to the best pitcher in the league, not the guy who's hottest at the end. It's not a college football poll. Santana was 7-6 with a 3.78 ERA before the break. That's good, but it's not Cy Youngian, and those games counted too.

So the question is, Is Santana better than Schilling over the whole season? And the answer is yes.

Next page: A quick tour of the numbers. Plus: Barry Bonds for MVP Stat of the Day