SB Nation - Jair Jurrjens

SB Nation Baseball Awards (Cy Young Edition)

craig — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:00:42 -0000

The results are in for the NL Cy Young award and here they are:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

Neither GameFish or I can remember exactly who we voted for or in what specific order. We both think we had Lincecum first, but we are not willing to swear to that in court. After Lincecum, we absolutely have no clue.

A boatload of postseason awards

KLSnow — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:41:50 -0000

Because I've been away for a few days I've fallen behind on a couple of things, including the unveiling of the SBN and IBWAA postseason awards. My apologies. Let's start with the SBN Awards:

If you read any of the other SBN baseball sites, you may have seen some of these, but if you don't, they're new to you. Two BCB writers contributed to each of the NL awards: I had one vote, and TheJay had the other. I'll publish my ballot below the results, and leave it up to TheJay to decide if he wants to post his.

SBN NL Manager of the Year:

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Jim Tracy	Colorado Rockies	24	1	2	125
2	Tony LaRussa	St. Louis Cardinals	3	7	10	46
3	Fredi Gonzalez	Florida Marlins	2	6	5	33
4	Joe Torre	Los Angeles Dodgers	-	9	2	29
5	Charlie Manuel	Philadelphia Phillies	-	3	5	14
6	Bruce Bochy	San Francisco Giants	1	1	1	9
7	Bobby Cox	Atlanta Braves	-	1	4	7
8	Bud Black	San Diego Padres	-	1	1	4
9	John Russell	Pittsburgh Pirates	-	1	-	3

My ballot:
1. Jim Tracy
2. Fredi Gonzalez
3. Joe Torre

I have no other comment on this award, except this side note: Nine of sixteen NL Managers received at least one vote, meaning more NL managers were acknowledged than not, and yet Ken Macha didn't appear on a single ballot.

SBN NL Rookie of the Year:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

My ballot:
1. Tommy Hanson
2. J.A. Happ
3. Casey McGehee

It was a tough year to be an NL Rookie - McGehee's performance might have rated higher in other years, but this season he was overshadowed by a bunch of high-impact players.

SBN NL Cy Young:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadephia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

My ballot:
1. Tim Lincecum
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Adam Wainwright
4. Chris Carpenter
5. Dan Haren

The SBN ballot only asked for three pitchers, but I also voted in the IBWAA awards, which required five. The IBWAA completed their slate of awards today, naming their MVP and Cy Young Award winners for both leagues. Here are their results:

IBWAA NL Manager of the Year:

1. Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies
2. Joe Torre, Los Angeles Dodgers
3 (tie). Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants
3 (tie). Fredi Gonzalez, Florida Marlins

IBWAA NL Rookie of the Year:

1. Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves
2. Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins
3. J.A. Happ, Philadelphia Phillies

IBWAA NL Comeback Player of the Year:

1. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
2. Troy Tulowitzski, Colorado Rockies
3. Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers

IBWAA NL Executive of the Year:

1. Dan O'Dowd, Colorado Rockies
2. John Mozeliak, St. Louis Cardinals
3. Ned Colletti, Los Angeles Dodgers

IBWAA NL Cy Young:

1. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
2. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
3. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
4. Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins
5. Javier Vazquez, Atlanta Braves

IBWAA NL Most Valuable Player:

1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
2. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
3. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
4. (tie) Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
4. (tie) Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
6. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
7. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
8. Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
9. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
10. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

The SBN MVP award balloting will be unveiled tomorrow. Follow the jump for the AL awards for both SBN and the IBWAA.

IBWAA Cy Young and MVP Awards have yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, in the AL:

SBN AL Manager of the Year:

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Mike Scioscia	Los Angeles Angels	9	8	3	72
2	Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	9	5	1	61
3	Don Wakamatsu	Seattle Mariners	6	3	8	47
4	Joe Girardi	New York Yankees	2	4	2	24
5	Ron Washington	Texas Rangers	1	4	4	21
6	Terry Francona	Boston Red Sox	1	1	3	11
7	Jim Leyland	Detroit Tigers	-	2	4	10
8	Joe Maddon	Tampa Bay Rays	-	1	1	4
9	Ozzie Guillen	Chicago White Sox	-	-	1	1
10	Trey Hillman	Kansas City Royals	-	-	1	1

SBN AL Rookie of the Year:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	6	9	6	63
2	Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	11	1	3	61
3	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay Rays	3	5	3	33
4	Rick Porcello	Detroit Tigers	2	7	2	33
5	Brett Anderson	Oakland Athletics	5	1	3	31
6	Gordon Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1	2	8	19
7	Nolan Reimold	Baltimore Orioles	1	-	1	6
8	Matt Wieters	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	3	6
9	Brad Bergesen	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	-	3
10	Ricky Romero	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3
11	Travis Snider	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3

SBN AL Cy Young:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	28	1	-	143
2	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	17	6	57
3	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	8	9	33
4	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	11	22
5	C.C. Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	1	2	5
6	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	1	1

IBWAA AL Manager of the Year:
1. Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins
2. Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Joe Girardi (New York Yankees)

IBWAA AL Rookie of the Year:
1. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
2. Andrew Bailey, Oakland Athletics
3. Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays

IBWAA AL Comeback Player of the Year:
1. Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays
2. Russell Branyan, Seattle Mariners
3. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

IBWAA AL Executive of the Year:
1. Brian Cashman, New York Yankees
2. Tony Reagins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Jon Daniels, Texas Rangers

IBWAA AL Cy Young:
1. Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals
2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
3. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees
4. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
5. Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays

IBWAA AL Most Valuable Player:
1. Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
2. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
3. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
4. Kendry Morales, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
5. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
6. Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals
7. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
8. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
9. (tie) Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
9. (tie) Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox

SB Nation Awards: Cy Young

Jim McLennan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:04:12 -0000

The Giants got a great deal from China on some remaindered figures, and are preparing a commemorative give away to celebrate Lincecum winning the SB Nation Cy Young...

View full size photo »

The Cy Young may be considered among the most straightforward of all the awards. For MVP, there's no clear-cut definition of what "Most Valuable" means; for Rookie of the Year, there's debate over whether Japanese players should be considered, whether playing time is imporant and if it's future potential or current numbers that matter; and even for Manager of the Year, you can argue over how much it's an award for front-office work, in constructing a roster, and how much credit should be given to the man in the dugout. The Cy Young, however, is for the best pitcher: surely not much room for argument there.

Well... That might be the case in the American League this season, but in our league... Not so much. After the jump we'll see how the definition of "best" isn't so clear-cut as one might think.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

O RLY? I'm pretty surprised by the landslide in favor of Timmeh. CC - Carpenter, not Sabathia - was a clear victor in ERA+, and to me, that's easily the most important category. In the absence of any significant mitigating factors, stopping the opposition from scoring runs is what good pitching is all about, and Carpenter was the best in the National League at doing that. For your interest, I pulled the relevant statistics for each nominee out of Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index v2.0 [even more lovely than before: you can now pick columns and do all manner of cool stuff], and they're shown below. Well, except for Cliff Lee, who pitched less than eighty innings. Quite how this qualifies him for the Cy Young escapes me - but apparently, one voter felt otherwise...

Rk	Player	ERA+	W	L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	HR	OPS
1	Chris Carpenter	185	17	4	192.2	156	49	48	38	144	2.24	7	.581
2	Tim Lincecum	173	15	7	225.1	168	69	62	68	261	2.48	10	.561
3	Jair Jurrjens	160	14	10	215.0	186	71	62	75	152	2.60	15	.660
4	Adam Wainwright	158	19	8	233.0	216	75	68	66	212	2.63	17	.646
8	Javier Vazquez	145	15	10	219.1	181	75	70	44	238	2.87	20	.612
10	Danny Haren	143	14	10	229.1	192	83	80	38	223	3.14	27	.635
14	Ubaldo Jimenez	130	15	12	218.0	183	87	84	85	198	3.47	13	.635

I voted Carpenter, Lincecum, Jurrjens - straight ERA+ - and while I expected a few voters to be bedazzled by the gaudy bauble of Lincecums strikeouts, as opposed to Carpenter's better ERA and WHIP, I didn't think the margin would be 2:1. Nor did I expect 35% of voters to ignore Carpenter entirely,. I'm wondering if perhaps the St. Louis vote was somewhat split between Carpenter and Wainwright, with the latter's league-leading total in wins and innings distracting voters from CC? Personally, when you get up beyond about 180 innings, I don't think you can use this as a yard-stick, as the number thrown begins to depend on things like managerial style, bullpen strength, and in any given NL start, when the pitcher's spot is due to bat.

I couldn't quite bring myself to vote for Haren. If the ballot had been held at the break, he'd have been my sure-fire choice for #1 - and he got jobbed for starting the All-Star game. But a 4.62 ERA in the second-half [and later performances are always weighted more heavily by voters] dropped him out of contention. Not, however, as low as Ubaldo Jimenez. Russ and Rox Girl of Purple Row have already 'fessed to having been the votes; I think we should charitably assume it's a result of them being so used to pitching mediocrity at Coors. Since 1993, 131 qualifying NL starters have had a bettter ERA+ than Jimenez this year. One played for Colorado (Joe Kennedy, 134 in 2004).

Over in the American League, it was almost a unanimous decision for Zack Greinke, with only one stubborn voter holding out for Roy Halladay. Can't argue with the choice there, because since the game became integrated, only three AL pitchers have had a better ERA+ than Greinke's 203: Martinez (1999, 2000, 2003), Clemens (1990, 1997) and Ron Guidre (1978). If I had a vote, I'd probably have put Halladay ahead of Verlander, due to his far superior ERA+ (157 vs. 132), but there's not really too much to argue with here.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	28	1	-	143
2	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	17	6	57
3	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	8	9	33
4	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	11	22
5	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	1	2	5
6	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	1	1

Finally, Baseball Prospectus unveiled their Internet Baseball Awards, which are an open ballot, in which anyone can vote. This leads to some results best described as "interesting": for example, I'd like to thank Mrs. Gutierrez for making her son Juan #1 on her NL Cy Young ballot. And all hail Miguel Montero, =90th for NL MVP! But perhaps the most amusing numbers can be found at the bottom of the Manager of the Year ballot, where someone voted Bob Melvin as Manager of the Year. Boy, those 29 games must have really impressed someone. Diamondhacks, was that you? :-)

SBN Awards: NL Cy Young

DyingQuail — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:36 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

Don't forget to bring a towel.

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For the next few years, this thing might as well just be named the Tim Lincecum Award. If I'm still around doing this in 2020, I can see myself rolling out this post then and marveling at the robotic durability that is Lincecum as he collects on his 13th straight SBN Cy Young. What really scares me, is that I can actually see that happening the more I think about it (if the ganja doesn't get him first...what's a Lincecum article these days without a a pot joke?).

For my balloting in this I went Lincecum and Vazquez at 1-2 based on their xFIP, WAR, tRA, and IP. In all honesty, I can't remember who I put at 3rd. Definitely not Cliff Lee. Definitely not Carpenter. I think it was either Wainwright or Haren (I also can't rule out Jurjens, but if I did that it was just to piss off HLP, who suffered Jurjens' Clemensing by the Braves in fantasy this year), but I wish I just would have given Wandy a courtesy third place ballot. Damn my objectivity.

The lack of an Astro in this table probably doesn't shock many of us, but it's sad none the less. Here's to 2010 and perhaps the appearance of a one Rodriguez, Wandy.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadephia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

2009 SBNation Awards: Cy Young Award

Al — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

Someday, Tim Lincecum will look older than 15. For now, he has to settle for Cy Young Awards.

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For the Cy Young Award, Mike & I agreed on our ballots right down the line -- and neither of us voted for the SBN winner, Tim Lincecum, who got 18 first-place votes. Carpenter and Wainwright appeared to split the Cardinal vote down the middle, so neither could win. No Cubs received any votes; none was expected to.

The AL voting was more predictable; you might only be surprised by the order of the runners-up.

BCB ballots:

Al: 1) Chris Carpenter 2) Tim Lincecum 3) Adam Wainwright   
Mike: 1) Chris Carpenter 2) Tim Lincecum 3) Adam Wainwright

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	28	1	-	143
2	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	17	6	57
3	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	8	9	33
4	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	11	22
5	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	1	2	5
6	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	1	1

SBN Awards: NL Cy Young

gondeee — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:53:03 -0000

Every year the bloggers and members of the SBN baseball blog community get together and do our own BWAA-style voting for all of the major awards. This year two Braves placed in the NL Cy Young voting, Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens. Here is the voting breakdown:

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	18	13	-	129
2	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	7	64
3	Adam Wainwright	St. Louis Cardinals	4	4	10	42
4	Javier Vazquez	Atlanta Braves	-	5	7	22
5	Dan Haren	Arizona Diamondbacks	-	3	4	13
6	Ubaldo Jimenez	Colorado Rockies	-	1	1	4
7	Cliff Lee	Philadelphia Phillies	-	-	1	1
8	Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	-	-	1	1

Here is how Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens stack up against the top-3 vote getters:

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Tim Lincecum	15-7	32	32	4	2	0	0	225.1	168	69	62	10	68	261	2.48	1.05

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Chris Carpenter	17-4	28	28	3	1	0	0	192.2	156	49	48	7	38	144	2.24	1.01

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Adam Wainwright	19-8	34	34	1	0	0	0	233.0	216	75	68	17	66	212	2.63	1.21

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Javier Vazquez	15-10	32	32	3	0	0	0	219.1	181	75	70	20	44	238	2.87	1.03

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jair Jurrjens	14-10	34	34	0	0	0	0	215.0	186	71	62	15	75	152	2.60	1.21

This was a pretty close race, and any of these guys could have a case for being the Cy Young.

The AL results are after the jump.

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Zack Greinke	Kansas City Royals	28	1	-	143
2	Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	-	17	6	57
3	Justin Verlander	Detroit Tigers	-	8	9	33
4	Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	11	22
5	CC Sabathia	New York Yankees	-	1	2	5
6	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	-	-	1	1

2009 SBN Baseball Awards - NL Rookie Of The Year.

Ed Chigliak — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:12:00 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Is Andrew McCutchen the SB Nation's '09 NL Rookie of the Year? (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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In 2008, the voting members of the SB Nation's baseball sites elected Cubs' catcher Geovany Soto as the NL Rookie of the year after the then-25-year-old catcher had hit .285 with 35 doubles, 23 HR's and 86 RBI's in 141 games behind the plate in Chicago. The only other player to receive a 1st place vote last season was Braves' right-hander Jair Jurrjens, who finished his rookie campaign with a (13-10) record, a 3.68 ERA, 139 K's, (6.4 K/9) and a 1.37 WHIP in 31 starts and 188.1 IP, but Jurrjens finished 3rd overall in the voting behind the Reds' Joey Votto, whose 10 2nd place votes allowed him to take second overall, but made him a distant runner-up to the SB Nation's top choice. Over a week later, the Baseball Writers Association of America awarded their NL Rookie of the Year Award to the same Cubs' catcher, with Votto and Jurrjens finishing second and third...

Who will the SB Nation's Baseball writers pick as the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year? The answer is only a jump away...but before you click through, register your own choice for ROY in the Poll below...

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

• Atlanta Braves' right-hander Tommy Hanson ended 2008 by winning the Arizona Fall League's MVP award, (the first time a pitcher in the hitter-friendly league had done so), and though he started the '09 season in the minors he was up by June and able to win 11 of the 21 starts he made, going (11-4) and allowing just 41 ER in 127.2 IP for a 2.89 ERA with 116 K's (8.2 K/9) and a 1.18 WHIP. (ed. note - "When's the first Strasburg v Hanson matchup?")

• J.A. Happ finished the 2009 season with 2 appearances in the World Series for the Phillies, giving up a run on 2 hits in 2.2 IP against the eventual-"World Champion" Yankees. In 23 starts and 35 overall appearances during the regular season, Happ was (12-3) with a 2.93 ERA, 3 complete games, 2 shutouts and a 1.23 WHIP in 166.0 IP, in which he struck out 166 (6.5 K/9) and walked just 56 (3.0 BB/9).

• Washington, DC fans saw the best Andrew McCutchen had to offer this season, when the then-22-year-old outfielder hit 3 HR's in 5 at bats in one game at PNC Park to help Pittsburgh to an 11-6 win over the Nationals. The former 1st Round pick, taken 11th overall by the Pirates in 2005, finally arrived in the majors in early June, giving him enough time to get in 433 at bats, over which he accumulated 124 hits, (26 doubles, 9 triples, 12 HR's), for a .286 AVG with a .365 OBP, .471 SLG, .836 OPS, (122 OPS+), 22 steals and 54 RBI's.

?'s For The DC Faithful...

• Would Jordan Zimmermann have competed for the ROY award if he'd been able to go all season?

• Is Strasburg a lock for next year's award?

• Did I give Chris Coghlan too much credit with a third-place vote because of what he was able to do against the Nationals? Clearly, I wasn't the only one he impressed, but I wonder if the Marlins' early dominance of DC influenced my decision?

• Will the Pirates' OF of Lastings Milledge, McCutchen and (Jose Tabata?) be the envy of the NL in a few seasons? Did I tell you what Former DC GM Jim Bowden said about Milledge? No? Eh, some other time....

• Strasburg v Hanson Pt. 1? Who's going to miss that?

Poll

Who is your 2009 NL Rookie of the Year?

Tommy Hanson (ATL)

41 votes

Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

25 votes

J.A. Happ (PHI)

22 votes

Dexter Fowler (COL)

1 votes

Chris Coghlan (FLA)

24 votes

113 votes | Poll has closed

The Atlanta Braves Weekly Wrap

gondeee — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:25:20 -0000

Here's a look at the major stories in the world of the Atlanta Braves for the week ending on November 8th:

In the Press...

Baseball America released their top-10 Braves prospects for 2010.
SI.com reported that the Braves might make a play for Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, but then Frank Wren shot down that rumor.
Talking Chop was one of the first to report that the Braves signed reliever Scott Proctor to a very affordable minor league contract.
Tim Hudson says his contract extension is essentially done, but we are still waiting on the MRI result on his right elbow before the Braves officially announce the deal.
Four Braves players filed for free agency.
Mike Minor got roughed up big-time in his start in the AFL Rising Stars game.
The blog, Stadium Journey, reviewed their visit to Turner Field.

At Talking Chop...

The Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence continued to rise this off-season.
We reviewed the 2009 seasons of the Braves starting pitchers, Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, and Kenshin Kawakami.
Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg was named the Topps Appy League Player of the Year.
I asked if J.J. Putz could be an option at closer for next year.

Notable FanPosts and FanShots...

jmorris811 shared a bunch of his Braves photos with us.
ryan c thinks Chipper Jones should be moved into the number-2 spot in the batting order.
arnec reprints a nice story about Ralph Garr and the Richmond Braves.
rbravesfan shares some pictures of the Rome Braves.
justincredubil02 cannot bring himself to believe that the Braves would trade Javier Vazquez.
mvhsball takes issue with columnist Mark Bradley's suggestion to make Tommy Hanson a closer.
PWHjort passes along a comment about Mike Minor from BA's Jim Callis.

Upcoming Events...

The first ever Brian McCann Celebrity Softball Game is set for November 13th... details here. We're making this a bit of a Talking Chop outing, so everyone get your tickets!
The Gwinnett Braves have a whole slate of off-season events planned at their ballpark, the list is here.

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Tommy Hanson

cbwilk — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:15:19 -0000

After dominating the Arizona Fall League in 2008, becoming the first pitcher in the league's history to win the MVP award, Thomas J. Hanson continued to excel in the Atlanta Braves' 2009 Spring Training, with a win and no losses in 5 games (3 starts), while striking out 18 in 17.2 innings. The Braves felt he needed more seasoning though, and optioned him to AAA Gwinnett, where he was dominant, as well with 3 wins and 3 losses in 11 starts, compiling a 1.49 ERA, 1.046 WHIP and 90 strikeouts in 66.1 innings, good for 12.2 per 9 innings.

Tom Glavine was supposed to be the Braves' fifth starter in 2009, but nagging injuries prevented him from ever pitching for Atlanta this season, and the Braves legend and future Hall of Famer was released June 3rd, just as he was, according to him, ready to assume his role in the Braves rotation. This highly unpopular move coincided with Hanson's additon to the roster, just two days later, and it turned out to be one of Frank Wren's most savvy decisions of the season.

Hanson came out of the gate pitching like an ace, collecting 4 wins in his 5 June starts, with a 2.48 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP while striking out 18 in 29 innings. While he had a losing record in July, 1-2, and his ERA jumped over a run, to 3.94, his strikeout rate increased, from 5.6 per 9 innings to 6.5 and his walks dramatically decreased, from 17 in 29 innings to just 9 in 32 innings, leading to a drop in his WHIP, down to 1.25. These trends continued over the rest of his season, with his ERA dipping back below 3 for August and September as well, leading to a final line that saw him win 11 games, lose 4, compile an ERA of 2.89, a WHIP of 1.18, along with 116 strikeouts in 127.2 innings.

In all, it was a stellar rookie season for Hanson, one which should garner him attention in National League Rookie of the Year voting, if not the award itself. On his own team, he had the third lowest ERA among the regular starters, just behind Javy Vazquez's 2.87 ERA, as well as the third most innings per start, at just over 6 per, behind Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens. Hanson had the second lowest WHIP of the starters, just behind Vazquez, tied with Vazquez for the fewest hits per 9 innings allowed, 7.4, and was second, behind Vazquez, in strikeouts per 9 innings, 8.2, and strikeouts per walk, 2.52.

Hanson showed improvement in each of his 4 Minor League seasons, including his most dominant performance in the early part of this season with Gwinnett. His ability to step seamlessly into Atlanta's rotation as a 22 year old and improve throughout the year indicate that he is well on his way to becoming one of the better pitchers in the National Leauge. While there are many hurdles for him to overcome on that quest, including allowing fewer hits and walks, while striking out more batters, he'll enter 2010 as a 23 year old, firmly entrenched in the Atlanta rotation, and just beginning to show his seemingly limitless ability.

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Jair Jurrjens

gondeee — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:38:13 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens may have been very lucky in 2009.

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Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens was good in 2009, but was he really a whole run better -- as he ERA from last year (3.68) to this year (2.60) showed? There are many Braves fans who are ready to anoint Jurrjens as the next in the great line of Braves starters, but to borrow a phrase from Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend."

Jurrjens certainly was a joy to watch in 2009, but aside from a tad bit more maturity and a little bit more durability, he was the same pitcher that toed the mound in 2008. While his ERA was over a run better than the previous year (as mentioned above), his FIP in 2009 (3.68) was worse than it was in 2008 (3.59). By those standards, Jurrjens was just a lot luckier this year. His strikeout and walk rates were virtually unchanged, his double play rate was the same, just about all of his rate stats were unchanged except his ratio of ground balls to fly balls allowed.

If there was an improvement in Jurrjens game in his second full year in the majors, it was that he seemed to learn to pitch to contact better and turn more of his batted balls into outs. He went from having a .307 BAbip in 2008 to a .274 BAbip last year. We could chalk this up to luck, but we could also say that Jurrjens was simply better at getting batters to hit the ball where he wanted them to, and part of that could have been pitching to more fly balls than ground balls.

So Jurrjens wasn't as good as his numbers say he was. He was a lot luckier than the year before, or in 2008 perhaps he just had a whole lot of bad luck. If we take that approach then the real Jair Jurrjens is probably somewhere between his 2008 and 2009 numbers. Keep in mind that he pitched in 3 more games, had 8 more quality starts, and pitched almost 27 more innings between last year and this year. Regardless of the glaring increase in his FIP, perhaps his increasing ability to pitch to contact successfully will continue in the coming years, but the odds are that we shouldn't be surprised if we see Jurrjens put up numbers that are closer to his 2008 numbers next season.

I'm all for riding the Jurrjens' Surgeons band wagon, and I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts, but keep in mind that he may be pulling something similar, though not as extreme, as what Jorge Houdini did in 2005. To continue his success, Jurrjens must continue to be a guy who pitches to contact effectively, and that can be a tough path to follow (unless your name is Greg Maddux).