Can Sandy Alcantara win the NL Cy Young?

Sandy Alcantara is the best starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. I wrote about our ace before and it’s perfect that we have him locked up on a team-friendly extension. The question now is whether our ace is going to go ahead and win the NL Cy Young award? Can he do it? Does he deserve it? Who is his competition? Let’s analyze that….

Sandy Alcantara is the best starting pitcher in the game.

Sandy Alcantara is amazing this year (sorry Jacob deGrom). He has already accumulated 6.2 WAR and pitched in 23 games and 166.0 innings, for a 10-5 W-L record and a 2.01 ERA/2.85 FIP. He leads all starting pitchers in innings pitched and ERA. He also has 7.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. He seems to have sacrificed strikeouts for just getting batters out via ground outs and that gives him elite durability.

Who is Sandy Alcantara’s competition for the NL Cy Young award? The San Francisco Giants’ Carlos Rodón, the San Diego Padres’ Joe Musgrove, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Julio Urías, his teammate Tony Gonsolin, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. Atlanta Braves’ Max Fried and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Corbin Burnes round out the list.

Let’s see how they compare to Sandy Alcantara. Rodón has 4.0 WAR and a 10-6 W-L record with a 2.95 ERA/2.28 FIP in 22 games and 128.1 innings. Alcantara beats him in innings and WAR and so should pass him in voting as well. Musgrove has 2.7 WAR with an 8-5 W-L record and a 2.91 ERA/3.35 FIP in 20 games and 127.0 innings. Alcantara is easily ahead of him.

Julio Urías has 2.7 WAR with a 12-6 W-L record and a 2.49 ERA/3.49 FIP in 22 games and 122.2 innings pitched. Alcantara is easily ahead against him as well. Julio’s teammate Tony Gonsolin has a 3.5 WAR with a 2.30 ERA/3.47 FIP in 20 games and 109.2 innings. Sandy Alcantara is ahead in WAR, FIP and innings pitched. Fried has a 4.7 WAR, a 10-4 W-L record and a 2.60 ERA/2.45 FIP in 22 games and 138.1 innings pitched. Alcantara wins in WAR and innings.

Zack Wheeler has 4.2 WAR with an11-5 W-L record, a 2.63 ERA/2.91 FIP in 21 games and a 126.2 innings. Sandy Alcantara wins in WAR and innings pitched. Finally, Aaron Nola has a 4.3 WAR and a 3.17 ERA/2.84 FIP in 22 games and 144.2 innings. He also has an 8-8 W-L record. Sandy wins in WAR, ERA, wins and innings. Burnes has a 3.9 WAR, a 2.45 ERA/3.13 FIP in 22 games and 136.0 innings pitched. Once again Sandy is ahead in WAR and innings.

No one comes close to Sandy Alcantara in WAR and innings. He is so far ahead of his competition that it would surprise me if someone else won the NL Cy Young award.