Cy Young Races (Part Two)

Its time you pick up the closer investigation of the tightly packed Cy Young award competition. Now, its time to take an evaluation of western pitching ace Jake Peavy.

Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres: Jake Peavy has enjoyed quite a stay during his 6 years and counting in the MLB, and has made the most of his chances with the same San Diego Padre franchise. In 2007, Peavy has stood out from the competition, but has been overshadowed at times by more expert aces in Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, and even teammate Chris Young. Yet Peavy's stats and talents are quiet, but after a closer look, reveal a potential candidate for the best pitcher, and maybe one of the best overall players in major league baseball today, and possibly a future involving his name being a household variety. Peavy's pitch types vary, and he can pull of several varieties of confusing and mind-boggling throws for opposing hitters to swing and miss at. Jake's fastball is his main weapon, reaching tops of 99 or even 100 MPH speeds, and Peavy's versatility allows him to strike at all corners of the strike zone, and unlike many pitchers, not allow batters to find out which section of the plate is opportune, and renders him with an extremely high strikeout count on his resume after every month of play. His curveball and slider may not contain the same rocketry and speed that his fastball is linked to, yet they continue to agitate and frstrate batters at the plate, far after the game is sealed. Now to Peavy's incredible pitching stats, still with a month left in the baseball season until the playoffs I remind you. Peavy, a solid pitcher in every right, may not be viewed as the most winningest pitcher, but fans and critics alike overlook the fact that his number of wins ranks tied for fifth in major league baseball, with 15 wins, and 5 rare losses. That particular stat puts Peavy third in winning percentage, behind Aaron Harang and Brad Penny. (.750 by the way). Jake Peavy is also third in the league in strikeouts, and by this time in the year has recorded 197 strikeouts in 27 games pitched, just 20 away from breaking his season high 216, with a month left in the regular season. And in the ERA column, guess who leads the league? You got it, westerner Jake Peavy tops the category once more, and has tallied an amazing ERA in 2007 of 2.18, just think about how that would help your team out. Anyway, Jake Peavy is one of my favorite players in the big leagues, and definately is one of the elite few today that have a legitimate shot at taking home the Cy Young award in 2007.

Next up on the list, LA Angel, John Lackey