4 Dark Horse Candidates for the 2019 Cy Young Award

Dark Horse Cy Young Award Candidates

Major League Baseball’s Cy Young award has been given out since 1956 and it’s a high honor to win it since just one pitcher in each league earns it every season. Roger Clemens has seven of them, the most all-time. 

Last season, Blake Snell shocked many fans and went 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 180 2/3 innings to take the American League Cy Young award. 

Put some respeck on Blake Snell’s name when it comes to the Cy Young 😤⚾️ pic.twitter.com/WhAHGy7ull

— Sports = Life (@SportzzTweetzz) September 13, 2018

Here’s a look at the Cy Young winners from the last 10 seasons:

The list is littered with elite pitchers such as Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, and Corey Kluber, all of whom could make a strong push for another. Then there are players like Chris Sale and Patrick Corbin, who are looking for their first Cy Young award. 

If we are indeed going to see another surprise performance catapult a pitcher to the best in the league, here are a few players who could fit that description:

Jose Berrios (MIN)

This is one of my favorite pitchers to watch in the Major Leagues right now as Jose Berrios can dominate any lineup. We saw that on several occasions throughout 2018.

Berrios went seven or more innings 13 times, including two complete games. He recorded at least eight strikeouts 11 times, topping out at 12 in a game in June.

First career shutout on the line, José Berríos brought the filth. pic.twitter.com/QZBYDjalVk

— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2018

We saw Berrios pitch 192 1/3 innings in 2018, the highest for him in his career. He went 12-11 with a 3.84 ERA and a 9.45 K/9 rate. 

There was, and still is, a big concern though. Berrios was extremely inconsistent. He had stretches where he looked untouchable and then runs where he looked completely figured out. His numbers evened out and the 24-year-old still had a very good season for the Twins. 

Berrios had 12 games where he couldn’t get through the 5th inning. Every pitcher has those outings where they get crushed, but Berrios was a victim of it too often in 2018. 

Jose Berrios relied heavily on his curveball in 2018, especially to right-handed hitters. Graphic courtesy of @brooksbaseball pic.twitter.com/15DI0j94kf

— 🏒 Kevin Freiheit ⚾️ (@kmf418) March 1, 2019

As a strikeout pitch, Berrios’ curveball was taken as a ball 38% of the time. It became a little too predictable and at times, batters seemed to easily lay off it. 

If he can make adjustments and throw a more consistent, deceiving curveball, it could go a long way. It’s a very effective pitch when he throws it with confidence and control and the movement is insane. 

Jose Berrios, Disgusting 85mph Curveball. 😲 pic.twitter.com/J0TjcZwlBp

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 4, 2017

Hopefully, Berrios can learn from his inconsistencies in 2018. The last Twins pitcher to win the Cy Young award was Johan Santana, who accomplished the feat in 2004. 

Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS)

When you think of the Red Sox pitching staff, the first pitchers that come to mind are probably Chris Sale and David Price. That could change after the 2019 season, though, because Eduardo Rodriguez is becoming a very prominent pitcher in that rotation.

There’s no hiding the fact that Rodriguez has dealt with numerous injuries over the last three years and it’s held his totals down since he missed some time. The left-hander has dealt with some serious knee and ankle injuries, but none of them has seemed to have much of a negative impact on his pitching. 

Eduardo Rodriguez with an incredible 10 K’s thru just 4,IP pic.twitter.com/GXU5DrnUkl

— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) September 2, 2018

Rodriguez has started at least 20 games in each of the past four seasons, and a healthy 2019 could finally see him get close to 200 innings pitched.

There are a couple of reasons for his success. He has a great repertoire of pitches and has confidence throwing any of them. Rodriguez also keeps the ball low and can paint the corners. 

This graphic is courtesy of Brooks Baseball and shows the percent of pitches in each zone from the 2018 season: 

Pedro Martinez and Sale were both impressed during Rodriguez’s live batting practice session earlier this spring.

“I see for the first time he is demanding more out of every pitch,” Martinez explained. “He’s asking for more and more. He’s making good quality pitches, but he wants to improve them.”

It wouldn’t be surprising to see him hit the 200-mark for the first time in his career, but the biggest thing will be lowering that ERA. Being a pitcher in the American League is very difficult, but he did lower his ERA from 4.19 in 2017 to 3.82 in 2018. If that slider that he is working ends up working well for him, that could push him to become one of the top pitchers in the game.

Mike Foltynewicz (ATL)

The Braves have a couple of intriguing pitchers to lead their rotation this summer in Sean Newcomb and Mike Foltynewicz. “Folty” is coming off his best season to date with 13 wins, a 2.85 ERA and 202 strikeouts, but can he take another big step forward?

Some digging into his stats will show that Foltynewicz was a very lucky pitcher in 2018. Fangraphs data has his BABIP at just .251, an incredible row late that is extremely difficult to sustain or replicate.

Mike Foltynewicz (@Folty25) was electric tonight! (Via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/1UVrutIbdl

— Sports Daily (@SportsDGI) June 2, 2018

So, how can a pitcher who has a career 4.22 ERA get into the Cy Young conversation in 2019? 

This is exactly why he’s considered a dark horse. There’s a lot of reason to believe that he’ll regress and won’t be able to match the numbers he put up. 

Foltynewicz did a lot of good things last season and it’s important that he finds a way to limit walks (71 in 183 innings in 2018). 

He has a five-pitch repertoire that consists of a four-seam fastball, slider, sinker, changeup, and curveball. He has the options of five great pitches and needs to use them more effectively than he has in the past. Tyler Flowers gave him praise on his pitches:

#Braves Tyler Flowers has caught Chris Sale, he’s also caught Mike Foltynewicz. Flowers says Foltynewicz has better pure stuff. #CHOPON pic.twitter.com/KLZEmNK965

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) May 24, 2018

His BABIP will likely increase and cost him some runs, but Foltynewicz could find his way to his second straight 200-win season.

The last Braves’ pitcher to win the Cy Young award was Tom Glavine in 1998.

Zack Wheeler (NYM)

The 2018 season was a great year for Zack Wheeler. In fact, it was arguably his best season to date. Across 29 starts, Wheeler went 12-7 with a 3.31 ERA and 179 strikeouts. He proved that he could return to his 2014 form, which is impressive considering he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and then dealt with arm issues a couple of years later. 

But 2018 was a big, positive step forward and it has him on the right track once again. A big part of his success came from cutting down the walks. His 2.71 BB/9 rate was the lowest of his career. The strikeout rate of 8.84 K/9 was his second best at the Major League level. 

We saw pure dominance during the final stretch of last season when Wheeler posted a 9-1 record with a 1.68 ERA over 11 starts. That’s the Wheeler Mets fans are hoping to see again this year.

Zack Wheeler’s 81 mph Curveball dupes Alex Verdugo for the K. pic.twitter.com/D163xlY1Rg

— Pitcher List (@PitcherList) September 6, 2018

Now 28 years old, Wheeler has an opportunity to take even a bigger step forward. Staying healthy is fantasy owners’ biggest concern, but Wheeler possesses the tools to be a very successful pitcher over the next few years. 

Wheeler told MLB.com reporter Anthony DiComo that he has remained confident:

“You’ve got to trust yourself. You’ve got to trust the surgery. You’ve got to trust everything that happens. … It’s always in the back of your head. You know how good you are. You know how good you can be. My biggest thing was as soon as I got healthy last year, I just wanted to show it.”