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After posting career numbers, leading the league in ERA, innings pitched and being one behind the lead in strikeouts, a pitcher can be reasonably called the best in the league. Today, baseball writers across the nation agreed with that statement. In a stunning victory, Felix Hernandez won the 2010 AL Cy Young despite the fact that he only had a 13-12 record.

Two days ago, Roy Halladay won a unanimous victory in the NL Cy Young race, becoming one of less than 10 pitchers to accomplish such a feat. Halladay’s election was easy: he led the league in virtually all major statistical categories, and won 21 games—one of those being a perfect game (the voting occurred before his no-hitter in the postseason).

Hernandez’s stats were equally impressive; unfortunately he plays for the anemic Seattle Mariners, who garnered him only a 13-12 record. To give an idea of how unfair such a categorization is: Hernandez lost nine games in which he allowed two runs or less.

On almost any other team, he would have easily won 20 games—but the Mariners were, by more than 100 runs, the worst offense in the AL. His .520 winning percentage was nearly 20 basis points higher than his team.

He had the second-lowest WHIP in the league behind only former teammate Cliff Lee at 1.06. Likewise, he was second in the league (also behind Lee) with six complete games. He led the league with a 63.4 average game score, and was among the league leaders in all Sabermetric stats.

This continues the trend that began last year: a pitcher’s individual performance is valued above what his team contributes. Last year, Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won their respective Cy Young awards despite low win totals. But this year, baseball writers made a huge step forward, picking the best pitcher in the AL despite a lack of wins.

Hernandez is only 24 years old, and has already won 73 games. He has over 1,000 strikeouts and a career 3.20 ERA. Each year, his ERA has been falling, with it ending at 2.49 last year. He could not beat out Greinke’s stellar year (which was among the greatest of all time), but certainly made a strong case for himself. This year, Hernandez lead the league in ERA at 2.27, a remarkable number.

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It took a stellar performance from Roy Oswalt to beat budding start Jonathan Sanchez. Oswalt went eight masterful innings giving up only one run and striking out nine and allowing only six base runners. What Giants fans should be upset about is manager Bruce Bochy’s decision to pitch Sanchez in game two instead of Matt Cain.

Sanchez is an excellent pitcher—albeit with a proclivity for missing the strike zone. He pitched 6 strong innings, giving up three runs, two earned, before giving up to a mediocre Giants bullpen. Cain might have been able to last later into the game—and given the Giants a chance against Brad Lidge.

Contrary to popular belief, San Francisco’s AT&T Park is not a particularly spacious park to the right field. With Cain, a right-hander, left-handers will be given a platoon advantage with McCovey Cove looming nearby. Against a homerun heavy Philadelphia lineup, it might make a difference.

But with the way Oswalt was pitching, it would have taken a spectacular performance from either pitcher to beat him. Just food for thought.

What may have been more questionable is starting Mike Fontenot at third base over struggling Pablo Sandoval. The Panda had a serious off-year, but is still better than starting a below-average hitting second baseman at third.

Next up for the Giants is Phillies third ace Cole Hamels. This year Hamels has increased his fastball velocity from a pedestrian low-90s to a highly effective mid-90s heater. Coupled with his plus change-up, Hamels consistently gets above average strikeout numbers.

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San Francisco Giants fans have to feel good about Tim Lincecum now. After a few rocky months, Lincecum is hitting the mid-90s again with his fastball and looking as dominant as he did during his two Cy Young years. I knew going into the game that, if they were both on, Lincecum would out-pitch Roy Halladay.

Despite what the stats may say, both were on last night. Due to an unforgiving strike zone, the game was higher scoring than it should have been, although 4-3 certainly isn’t much. Lincecum struck out eight against the National League’s best offense, despite walking three. What should be concerning for Giants fans is the method of scoring for the Phillies: the long ball.

While the Phillies have a prolific offense, Lincecum has historically been able to keep the ball in the park—becoming a rare strikeout/ ground ball type of pitcher. This year however, Lincecum nearly doubled his home-runs-allowed rate, a concerning stat going forward in these playoffs.

The biggest problem is that, while the Phillies are a good hitting team, they pale in comparison to the home run power of Yankees and the Rangers. And while the Phillies are a patient team, they are not the New York Yankees. Against a more patient team, especially with a home plate umpire like Gerry Davis, Lincecum could be in trouble.

Unlike years past, he is hittable. And against the best AL offenses he will be very hittable. Lincecum’s changeup is the best in the league, but it is effective falling out of the zone—something that the Yankees or Rangers will be sure to exploit.

I love watching Lincecum, and except for the month and a half where he couldn’t hit the strike zone (five walks in four straight games? C’mon man!), I don’t miss his starts. But it would make me nervous to be facing an AL team with him as my ace.

That being said, I could be entirely wrong and he’ll look like the Lincecum we saw from game one of the NLDS against the Braves. But even in that game, those two Braves hits were long doubles—and many of the outs were fly-ball outs. The 14 strikeouts were extremely impressive, but they come with some caveats.

Giants fans should, however, be impressed with their offense—managing to score four runs off of one of the best pitchers in the game. They are a scrappy team, and manage to score just enough runs to win. With each of their division series wins coming by merely one run, they have shown the ability to hit just as well as their very talented pitching staff allows.

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For those fans who were expecting a pitching duel of the century, Cody Ross and home plate umpire Gerry Davis’ minuscule strike zone made sure to perish the thought. In his first two at-bats, Ross hit blasts into the left field bleachers—the first being the first hit Roy Halladay had allowed in almost 12 innings, and the second giving Giants’ starter Tim Lincecum a 2-1 lead.

Then in the sixth, Davis struck, calling what would have been strike three a ball. A few pitches later, Pat “The Bat” Burrell doubled to left to give the Giants a 3-1 lead with two outs. Juan Uribe singled to give the Giants an extra cushion, making the score 4-1. That would be all Lincecum would need.

After giving up a two-run home run to free-agent-to-be Jayson Werth, Lincecum settled down and made it through seven strong innings. He struck out eight en route to his second win of his postseason career.

Prior to the game, much had been made of such a star-studded pitching matchup. Lincecum and Halladay’s combined stats this postseason (both having only made one career postseason start) were: 2 CGs, 22K’s, 2 hits, 2 walks. One of those complete games was a perfect game.

Through the first few innings, it looked as if the game had the potential to be another matchup where one mistake would decide the victor. But Davis’ unforgiving strike zone consistently made marginal pitches go the way of the hitter. Viewers expecting another two performances like the division series were victimized by Davis’ game calling.

Tonight at 8:00pm EST, the Giants send out Jonathan Sanchez, who since September has been the best pitcher in the league. Facing him will be Roy Oswalt, the National League leader in WHIP (walks plus hits per inning). Like Game 1, this game has the potential to be a low-scoring pitching duel.

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If anyone was surprised at Cliff Lee’s performance in today’s ALDS conclusion, they haven’t watched enough baseball to call themselves fans.

If this postseason has made one thing perfectly evident, it is that a true ace in the postseason is worth many times his weight in gold. What’s more astonishing is how accurately one may predict the outcome of a series, especially a short series like the divisional round, simply by assessing the caliber of a team’s ace.

In 2010, the four consensus best ace pitchers were: Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Lee and C.C. Sabathia. What four teams did they pitch for? The Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees. Which four teams advanced to the championship series? You guessed it, those same teams.

They simply aren’t the same as other pitchers in baseball.

The value of these type of aces cannot be overstated. They will give you consistently above average innings, often lasting into the eighth or ninth. This is what most separates them from pitchers like Francisco Liriano and Tim Hudson; they don’t leave a victory up to chance. If they start a game, they have a good chance of finishing it and disallowing the bullpen a chance to implode.

Regular season records are a good indication of how a team might play in 162 games, but a postseason is a race against time. Take the 2001 season, for example: the Seattle Mariners played baseball to the tune of a 116-46 record, but had to face Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina, two pitchers contending for a Cy Young, in the ALCS. Looking at the composite box score shows the power of outstanding pitching: the Yankees outscored the Mariners 17-12 in the first six innings of the series, leading to a 4-1 Yankee victory. The same then happened to the Yankees, as they faced Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

Expect the same in each league’s championship series.

Building for the regular season and building for the postseason are two dramatically different ballgames. While the Rays were probably the most complete team this season, with power up and down their lineup, and four above average starters, they were beaten twice by Cliff Lee in one series. After that, the Rangers only needed to win one more game in three to assure themselves a bid in the ALCS.

Future teams should take heed of the Rays and reconsider their rotations.

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During the regular season, quality baseball, consistent pitching, and measured tactics are the key to victory. Come October, and these methods go out the door. It’s all about who can hit the most homeruns. Outside of simply including the Yankees starting nine, here are the most prolific power hitters in the 2010 postseason.

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A solid ace is the most important part of any postseason rotation. In 2001, the Mariners were clearly the most talented team in the league, having won a record 116 games.

But they ran into the Yankees’ Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina and lost in a mere five games. Whatever team’s pitching proves most consistent will be the team that wins the World Series.

While the Padres are still mathematically in the race, their loss tonight has given them a nearly impossible task…and for that reason, their pitching has been left off this list.

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After A.J. Burnett signed a five year 82.5 million dollar contract, the Yankees expected front of the rotation performance from the former strikeout king and at times, Burnett has been just that; A consistent, above average strike-thrower.

But often he has been erratic and inconsistent. It could be merely inning to inning—and that has been his biggest problem, his susceptibility to the big inning.

Since his May 9th start, Allan James has an ERA of 6.33. He has walked 41 in 85.1 innings and struck-out only 68. His fastball velocity for the season is down to 93.2 MPH, a very respectable figure, but his lowest since 2003, when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Both Burnett’s fastball and his signature knuckle-curve have been below league average. The point is, Burnett is not the same pitcher the Yankees overpaid for last year.

Burnett has always been unpredictable, but always managed to right the ship before it was too late. Yankee fans will remember his 15 inning pitching duel with the Red Sox’s Josh Beckett—matching him for 7.2 innings before Alex Rodriguez hit a walk-off in the 15^th .

Does anyone really see Burnett putting on that same performance this year? Or more importantly, putting on a performance like that in a game that matters?

Many Yankee fans thought we’d need another arm to replace Vazquez, who certainly had among the worst April’s in recent memory. Or to supplement our rotation when Pettitte and Hughes inevitably come back to Earth. But it seems to me that the Yankees could have desperately used another arm to replace Burnett until he can at least return to his moderately inconsistent self.

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