Chicago Cubs: Two Cubbies starters in the NL Cy Young race

Jon Lester has been one of the many bright spots in the Chicago Cubs rotation this year. But since the All-star break, he has been absolutely lights out.

Lester currently holds a 2.28 ERA on the season with a 19 and 4 record, ranking him at the top of possible National League Cy young candidates.

Then we have Kyle Hendricks. He currently holds the best ERA in all of baseball, sitting at 1.99, to go along with a 16-8 record. He’s not your typical power guy who racks up a ton of strikeouts, but he has so many different pitches that have great movement, which makes it a challenge for opposing hitters to square him up.

The Southpaw

He has it all. The fastball velocity, the stuff, the command, and the numbers. In Jon Lester‘s last seven starts, he is 6-0 with an astounding 0.54 ERA in 49 2/3 innings pitched. Lester currently boasts the most wins in the National league at 19. That ties Lester with the Nationals Max Scherzer, who is also in the Cy young run.

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But let’s look in depth first at the stats in his last seven starts. he’s only given up eight free passes in almost 50 innings. The command has been on point. The lefty gets ahead in the count early. Lester also has a WHIP of under one in those last seven starts. He pitches to contact, but the big lefty also has the ability to rack up his amount of strikeouts. He has 45 punch outs in those 49 2/3 innings pitched.

Lester currently has the best ERA he’s ever had in his career at 2.28. In past years, the Washington native has had some stellar seasons but has never been honored with a Cy young award. Lester’s latest start against the Cardinals proved why he’s one of the best.

Impressive Stretch

It marked the eighth straight start of his allowing one or fewer runs, and the eleventh straight start allowing two or fewer. In fact, through his 31 starts this season, Lester has allowed more than two runs only seven times all season. That is quite impressive.

There are no guarantees Jon Lester will walk away with the award at the end of the season. That will be up to the voters. Either way, he’s definitely put himself in good company thanks to a dominant second half. Lester will most likely get the ball in game one of the division series because of it.

Crafty Righty

Not one person in baseball would have expected Kyle Hendricks to have the type of season he’s having right now. He currently leads the entire Majors in ERA, being the only pitcher to boast an earned run average below two. I think we need to realize how significant this is. In the big leagues, having an ERA that low is pretty much unheard of.  Boasting one around the 2.50-3.00 mark, well that’s considering amazing in itself. But for a guy like Hendricks, who’s sinker has averaged out at 88 miles per hour this year, to boast a 1.98 ERA is ridiculous.

It’s not too often you see guys who can hardly crack 90 just casually holding the best-earned run average in the game. Well, that’s one reason he has a legitimate chance to win the Cy young. But let’s look at his stats a little more closely. He’s got 16 wins, which isn’t top of the National league, but it puts him in fifth place. His WHIP is currently 0.97, which ranks him second to Max Scherzer. He’s racked up his fair amount of strikeouts too, striking out 166 in 185 innings pitched this season.

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Mixing things up

The reason Hendricks has so much success is because he has several pitches in his repertoire, including his primary pitch, a sinking fastball. Most guys who are in the Cy young conversation throw a mid 90’s fastball. Not Hendricks. But he’s proven you don’t need to in order to be successful in the Majors. Mixing up your pitches and locating is just as important as trying to blow it by a hitter.

Do these two Cubs starters have a chance?

I believe both of them certainly have a shot at the award. Guys like Max Scherzer, Madison Bumgarner, and Johnny Cueto all have a serious chance at winning the award as well. They all have great stats that prove they are all candidates to win the Cy young. It would certainly be nice to see Lester or Hendricks win it, though, because both are worthy of the award after posting some amazing numbers. Both guys are vital reasons the Cubs are the only team with more than 100 wins in baseball.

Either way, it would be great to see one of our Cubbies starters win a Cy young, and the Chicago Cubs go deep into the playoffs. It should be an exciting next month for the city of Chicago.