Felix Hernandez pitched a complete-game two-hitter today, which he also lost 1-0. He struck out 5 Blue Jays, increasing his league-leading strikeout total to 227. Weaver is sitting at 220 with two scheduled starts remaining: Sunday against Chicago and next Friday at Texas. Hernandez's final two starts will be against Texas and Oakland. These three teams strike out less than average, so all things being equal, Jered is very unlikely to surpass Felix.
An Angel pitcher has not led the league in strikeouts since Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana did it every season from 1972 to 1979 (Tanana in 1975, Ryan in all the other years). However, Jered Weaver can still accomplish something an Angel starter has not done in nearly 20 years: finish a full season with an ERA under 3.00. Jim Abbott was the last in 1992, although John Lackey gave up just one earned run too many in 2007. Weaver's ERA is currently 2.99.
Wow, Mark Whicker could have written that, right? Let's add some color. I'm currently watching the Rays and Yankees, which is pretty much a "Sabathia for Cy Young" fundraising telethon. Did you know he's going for his 21st win?! Who cares if Felix Hernandez is better at pitching in literally every way you can be better at pitching, 21 wins!! Are you listening BBWAA? Oh wait, of course you are, because you all live in New York.
Maybe the reason these people still can't fathom the thought that win and losses are dumb is the fact that they are called "wins" and "losses." Apparently the Mariners didn't lose 1-0 today, Felix Hernandez did. We've all watched Jered Weaver pitch enough this season to catch the nonsense in that statement. So let's just call a spade a spade. The "CC for President" argument now goes like this:
CC Sabathia should win the American League Cy Young Award because he leads the league in Times He Was The Pitcher Who Last Pitched Prior To The Half-Inning When The Winning Team Took The Lead For The Last Time, Except When The Starting Pitcher Pitches Less Than Five Innings, In Which Case The Win Shall Be Awarded To The Relief Pitcher Whom The Official Scorer Deems Most Effective (THWTPWLPPTTHIWTWTTTLFTLTEWTSPPLTFIIWCTWSBATTRPWTOSDME).
THWTPWLPPTTHIWTWTTTLFTLTEWTSPPLTFIIWCTWSBATTRPWTOSDME? And to think people still use VORP as the example of baseball geekiness.