Mid-Season Predictions - Cy Young

Pre-Season Picks

American League

Dustin - (Pre-Season Pick - Jon Lester) It's a runaway, and this one comes as a bit of a surprise (not to Lange), but much less surprising than Cliff Lee's outstanding 2008. This is Zack Greinke's to lose. Not much to say other than 10-5, 5 complete games 2 of those shutouts, 129 K's, and a 2.12 ERA....wow! Roy Halladay will have to be mentioned if he stays in the AL, but he'll be a distant 2nd.

Lange - (Pre-Season Pick - Zack Greinke) The first half Cy Young in the AL is a no-brainer. The question for Zack Greinke will now become, can he maintain? More importantly, will the awful, awful Royals give him enough run support for Zack to win the requisite 20 games he will need to win the Cy Young? Well, he was the best in the first half, so I guess that'll be some consolation.

A. Guss - (Pre-Season Pick - Roy Halladay) I don't think I'm going to have to change at all. Halladay started the All-Star game, so what more do you need?



National League

Dustin - (Pre-Season Pick - Brandon Webb) Webb's chances were all but killed early with an injury that has put him out most of the 1st half. Tim Lincecum is 10-2 with a 2.33 ERA...this award is all but his at this point right? Well, Dan Haren's 2.01 ERA with 9 W's trumps it, unfortunately he is on a bad, bad team, he has 5 L's to go along with that ERA, that certainly isn't his fault. Haren though is supposedly being shopped, if he goes to an NL team that can actually give him some run support, expect this to be a runaway. However, I think the price is too high for Haren, and he will stay put, so I am going to lean towards Tim Lincecum on this with his 3 finished games with 2 of them shutouts. Expect names like Gallardo, Billingsley, and yes even Chris Carpenter to be mentioned when it is all said and done.

Lange - (Pre-Season Pick - Chad Billingsley) I still like my Billingsley pick, unfortunately he walks far too many and has too many average starts to be considered the NL's top pitcher. If we had done first quarter awards, the Cy winner would have been Brewers Closer Trevor Hoffman, but he's struggled of late and a couple NL pitchers have really stepped up. So my winner will have to be Dan Haren of the D'backs. His numbers compare very well to Lincecum's, but you have to love the fact that he's only walked 16 batters in 130 innings. A starting pitcher with a .81 WHIP is as dominant as you could be. That said, Haren is usually a pretty good first half pitcher and doesn't tend to replicate his numbers in the second half, so Lincecum will probably come out on top. But through the break, it's Haren.

A. Guss - (Pre-Season Pick - Carlos Zambrano) Yes, and this is why I hate the Cubs. So I should pick Yovani just to get the bad taste out of my mouth, however he has an 8-7 record because the Brewer bats go anemic when he is on the mound. That being said, "Tiny" Tim Lincecum is my choice. Along side Matt Cain, Lincecum has provided the excellent pitching to put the Giants into the Wild Card chase.

Stay Tuned Next Week To See the Predictions for MVP & The Division Winners