Power Players Poll of the Week

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 27, 2010

Power Players Poll of the Week

Roy Halladay

Who'll hit the most home runs this year? Which pitcher will have the most strikeouts? Those questions and others will be posed by SI.com over the next two months in a series of poll galleries with a ballot on the last frame. This week's question: Who'll win the NL Cy Young award? The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner moved to the NL this season, and has continued to torment hitters. Halladay is coming off back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons, and through his first seven starts in 2010, he was 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA.

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jimenez is putting up video game numbers this season. In the more than 63 innings he's been on the hill in 2010, only seven runs have been scored, good enough for a 0.99 ERA. He's already 8-1 (including a no-hitter against Atlanta) with 58 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting just .171 against him.

Johan Santana

Santana collected two Cy Youngs as a Minnesota Twin, and the powerful lefty has the stuff to be the game's best pitcher every year. This season, Santana is enjoying the comforts of the Mets' CitiField, where he is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA and 30 strikeouts.

Jaime Garcia

Garcia started just one big league game prior to 2010, and is coming off Tommy John surgery. But through eight starts, he has performed among the game's best, posting a 1.28 ERA. And in three outings at Busch Stadium, Garcia has yet to give up a run.

Adam Wainwright

Last season, Wainwright racked up 19 wins and over 215 strikeouts. This year, he's picked up right where he left off, winning six of his first nine starts and striking out 57 batters. But is Wainwright even the best starter on the Cardinals?

Chris Carpenter

Carpenter turned 35 in April, but the veteran has yet to lose an ounce of his strength. He ranks fifth in the NL in strikeouts in 2010 (with 61), and has already logged 67 innings pitched through ten starts (5-1 record).

Tim Lincecum

Lincecum is the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner, and at age 25, is still in the prime of his career. Lincecum started 2010 scorching hot, going 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA in April, and through nine starts, Lincecum was tops in the NL in strikeouts (75).

Barry Zito

It seems like a lifetime ago that Zito won the 2002 AL Cy Young Award. He's struggled since joining the Giants, but 2010 has marked a turnaround for the quirky lefty. Through nine starts, Zito was 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA. But how long can he keep this going?