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Chicago Cubs: Jose Quintana is a dark horse Cy Young candidate
By Logan Whaley
Jose Quintana is one of the most consistent starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. Now, if he can put it all together, Quintana could find himself as a perennial dark horse for the National League Cy Young.
In hearing someone mention the National League Cy Young award, Chicago Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana is not a name that many people will give merit.
For one, Quintana leaped to the National League just last season and pitched only 14 games for the Cubs. Second, the National League is full of stars like Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Madison Bumgarner, so it’s a tall order for anyone to face.
Heading into this new season, Quintana will have an opportunity to put together an entire campaign for the Chicago Cubs. As their projected fourth starter in the rotation, the southpaw is in the perfect spot to make some serious noise.
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Consistency wins out every time
Over the last five seasons, three different National League Cy Young Award Winners have existed: Max Scherzer, Jake Arrieta and Clayton Kershaw.
Scherzer has taken the trophy home in each of the past two seasons, with Arrieta sandwiched in the middle, followed by Kershaw in the two seasons before that.
In looking at an average of Scherzer’s previous two seasons, he averaged 215 innings pitched per season. Furthermore, the Nationals hurler pitched to the tune of a 2.75 ERA in that time. Quite impressively, he holds a 3.08 FIP as well.
Comparatively, in back-to-back seasons where Clayton Kershaw won the award, Kershaw averaged 217 innings pitched per season, with a video-game-like 1.80 ERA and an otherworldly 2.02 FIP.
Jose Quintana has been incredibly consistent since his rookie season. His rookie season, Quintana made 22 starts. In each subsequent year since he has averaged right at the 200-inning mark. In other words, he has been very reliable.
During that time, Quintana holds a respectable 3.50 ERA along with a solid 3.41 FIP.