Kuzul

It's not often that the debate between the top two Cy Young candidates for a specific league becomes a debate over two teammates. But, that is exactly what is going on in the National League and in Cincinnati in 2012.What makes this even more rare is the fact that it is going on in Cincinnati.The Reds have won their fair share of league MVP awards (12), Rookie of the Year awards (seven), and countless Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.But, they have never won a Cy Young award. Simply put, it is a statistical anomaly that the Reds legitimately have the top two candidates to take home this season's award.Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman are without argument the front runners to take home the N.L. Cy Young award this season—no questions.The real question remains though, which of them will actually win it?You can make a great case for both of them, and personally I ...

If the Giants absolutely, live or die, had to win just one game (say in a wild-card situation) wouldn't manager Bruce Bochy have to put Ryan Vogelsong on the mound?He's the obvious choice to me.  Okay, Matt Cain has that perfect game under his belt.  He's also got a few really beautiful shutouts this season.  Classic, gorgeous pitching.  But Cain also labored in five terrible innings against the Mets, for crying out loud.  I was there to see the very first pitch go over the wall.I mean, if you are going to put the Giants starting pitchers in order of preference based on consistency, command and placement, I'd have to go:  Vogelsong, Cain, Bumgarner, Lincecum and Zito.  And Vogelsong really gets a lot less respect than he has earned.I'm not a huge stats and numbers nerd, but his numbers are difficult to ignore.  Sixteen consecutive games allowing three runs or ...

Through two months (just about) of the 2012 MLB season, the American League Cy Young race features some usual suspects and one not-so-usual suspect.That would be Chicago White Sox lefty Chris Sale. He hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention, but he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball for the month of May, and his numbers for the season are all solid. His first season as a starting pitcher is going pretty well.The question is where Sale ranks among the competition for the AL Cy Young. Is he up there with Jake Peavy and Justin Verlander, or does he still have work to do before we can call him one of the Junior Circuit's elite pitchers?Good question. The answer lies within my updated AL Cy Young award rankings. Note: Feel free to check out last week's rankings.Begin Slideshow

That's gone by fast.It seems as though just yesterday was the start of the 2012 MLB Season. Yet we find ourselves in the middle of May at the quarter-mark of the 162-game season wondering, "Where did all that time go?"That's baseball for you, folks. The next quarter will fly by as quickly as the last, and soon enough, it will be September, in the heat of playoff races. And playoff time means time for awards. This year has been nothing short of thrilling. This season has seen the explosion of some young players, the resurgences of older players and big-breaks for prospects. It's time for early predictions for the awards that the MLB will hand out in the fall. All statistics are as accurate as May 22nd, 2012.Begin Slideshow

With a little over a week to go in the month of May, the race for the American League Cy Young award is starting to heat up.As things stand right now, there are some pretty heavy hitters in the mix to win the award, including several former Cy Young winners. The guys who are supposed to be pitching well are pitching well, which I suppose makes perfect sense.There's always at least one surprise contender every year, however. In recent weeks, Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow has been stating his case to win the award, as he's been on a hot stretch that has pushed his record to 5-2 and his ERA comfortably below 3.00.Morrow is definitely a guy to watch as things move forward in the American League. For the time being, here are my weekly top five contenders for the AL Cy Young.Note: Feel free to check out ...

The first month of the 2012 Major League Baseball season is over, so let us all sit back and entertain various "If the season ended today..." scenarios.For example, who would win the American League Cy Young if the season ended today?Good question. Jake Peavy is an outstanding candidate, and at this point we have to recognize Yu Darvish as a legit Cy Young contender. Very quietly, Felix Hernandez has looked a lot like the pitcher who won the AL Cy Young back in 2010.Okay, we've established that there are several candidates for the award. Now all we have to do is rank them.And away we go...Begin Slideshow

The new season is has been in a full swing for three weeks now and we have seen just a preview of the great baseball to come the rest of the year.There have been many surprises this year so far, the most recent being Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox throwing a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.I will be taking a look at every major MLB award and have an updated prediction for it.Enjoy.Begin Slideshow

The American League Cy Young and MVP winner for 2011 was Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander. That’s not where the honor stops, though.Verlander is now on the front cover of video game MLB 2k12.Verlander took to Twitter to show the world:While many athletes just get a normal image of themselves posing, the people at 2k Sports have taken the idea of artwork on the front to a new level. Just like Roy Halladay from last year and Michael Jordan on the front of the NBA 2k games, the star seems to be moving through a mist. It’s fantastic to look at. The coolest part of the actual cover is the fact that his arm is electrified. While it’s not a big detail or something that everyone will catch, the fact that they are showing his arm in a super hero like fashion could become the staple of the covers. ...

Clayton Kershaw won the 2012 NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, a fact you surely know unless you've been on the moon or taking a Rip Van Winkle-like nap for the last couple of days. But there are things about Clayton Kershaw that you may have thought you knew, or never knew at all.1. Kershaw attended high school with Detroit Lions Quarterback Matthew Stafford at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas. Other famous alumni from the school include Angie Harmon, Jayne Mansfield, Morgan Fairchild, Aaron Spelling, Doak Walker, Bobby Layne, Kyle Rote, Jr. and Chris Young.Oh, and because every school seems to have one, would-be President Reagan assassin, John Hinckley, Jr.2. In a high school playoff game against Arlington Martin High School, Kershaw threw an all-strikeout perfect game.3. Following a Christian mission trip to Africa, Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, are building an orphanage in Zambia. The couple will also ...

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has had, by all accounts, a remarkable season. With the Triple Crown of American League pitching all but sewn up, Verlander has virtually guaranteed to  himself the AL Cy Young Award in a landslide. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most outstanding pitcher in the American League this season. But is he the Most Valuable Player? Furthermore, should a starting pitcher even be considered for the MVP, much less find himself in position to win it? And how, if at all, would those arguments change if baseball had a more legitimate counterbalance to the Cy Young, a Most Outstanding Hitter award?  Don't Know Much About History  Verlander’s candidacy has rekindled the decades-long debate about pitchers as MVPs. As the argument for him goes, Verlander is the sort of dominant pitcher who stops losing streaks cold in their tracks.His 24 wins, or at ...