Early Candidates for the American League Cy Young Award

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

We are a third of the way through the MLB season, baseball’s top pitchers are separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Some of the usual cast of characters are pitching as expected, and there are a couple of surprises as well.

Today we will look at early contenders for the American League Cy Young Award.

Gerrit Cole – The $324 million dollar ace of the New York Yankees is doing his thing. His numbers (6-2, 1.81 ERA) are as you would expect. Cole struck out ten or more five times, and struck out 59 hitters without issuing a walk. The Cy Young odds have been updated and it looks like Cole is now -125 favorite to take home the award.

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John Means – Means opened eyes across the baseball world on May 5, when he pitched a no-hitter against the Mariners in Seattle. But those who have watched the big, strapping lefty for some time shouldn’t be surprised. He’s leading the AL in ERA with 1.79, and would be among the league leaders if he had more run support from his Orioles teammates.

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Kyle Gibson – Some folks reading this are probably saying, “WHO?” The 33 year old Gibson has toiled in relative obscurity in Minnesota for most of his career, before coming to the Rangers prior to the 2020 season. He entered this season with a career 69-74 record and ERA over 4.50, but seems to have finally put it together. Gibson has a 3-0 record and 2.24 ERA in ten starts, including a 1.50 ERA in his last nine outings. Like John Means, he should have a lot more wins if he had run support.

Hyun-Jin Ryu – Ryu has been one of baseball’s top pitchers since coming to the majors in 2013 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to the 2020 season, he signed a four year contract with Toronto to be their ace. He hasn’t disappointed. Ryu posted a 2.69 ERA across a dozen starts in the abbreviated season last year. He has carried it over this year, fashioning a 2.53 earned run average. The stuff is there for him to win, the biggest obstacle has been staying healthy long-term.

Tyler Glasnow – Before he was traded to the Rays from Pittsburgh, it was hard to tell where Glasnow’s career was headed. The 6’8″ righty had trouble with mechanics and keeping everything in-line. The raw stuff was there, but no one know where the ball was going when it left his hand. After the trade in Summer 2018, Kevin Cash and the Rays put him right into the starting rotation. A switch flipped on when Glasnow began working with respected pitching coach Kyle Snyder. The Rays coach is also a big man and a former pitcher. The 27 year old Glasnow (4-2, 2.57 ERA) is pitching deep into games, averaging 12.6 K’s per nine innings. 

In a later installment, we will break down starters who could battle for the Cy Young in the senior circuit.

 

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Kim Ng Makes History, Becomes 1st Female General Manager

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

At 10:38 this morning, Jon Heyman of MLB Network announced on Twitter that the Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng to be the team’s new General Manager.

 

This is significant. At almost 52 years of age, Kim Ng is now the first female GM in Major League Baseball. Notoriously slow to adapt to modern ways, Major League Baseball showed it wants to shed it’s archaic ways. It took a young owner like Derek Jeter to break the mold. Furthermore, she is the first female general manager of ANY major sport (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) in the United States.

While Ng is new to the GM title for the Marlins, she is anything but new to MLB front offices. Starting at the bottom, Ng began her career thirty years ago with the Chicago White Sox, working her way up to the title of Assistant Director of Baseball Operations. Wanting to advance, she left in 1997 to take a position in the offices of the American League, where she was Director of Waivers and Records, approving transactions.

Ng joined the New York Yankees in 1998 as Assistant General Manager under Brian Cashman, himself a new GM. She stayed with the Yankees through the 2001 season, and left for the Los Angeles Dodgers where she held the same title, while adding the title of Vice President. In 2005, Ng interviewed for the Dodgers vacant GM position, but lost out to Ned Colletti. Wisely, Colletti kept Ng in the same position, where she stayed until early 2011.

Undeterred, Ng interviewed for General Manager positions up and down the West Coast. She applied from San Diego to Seattle and everywhere in between. In March 2011, she left Los Angeles for a job as Senior VP of Baseball Operations for MLB, while reporting to Joe Torre. Ng stayed with MLB until Jeter and the Marlins made her historic hiring official this morning.

 

This is a great day for Major League Baseball and humanity in general. Ng’s hiring is more proof women can do what historically has been known as a “man’s job”. I would bet she will do it better than most men. I wish Ng the very best in her new job in Miami.