Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Talks About Limiting Julio Urias Amid Cy Young Talk
Dodgers ace Julio Urias is probably going to finish second in the National League Cy Young Award voting this year. It says a lot about the season Julio is having that people are up in arms, saying that's too low a finish.
But up in arms they are, and it's understandable why. Urias leads the NL in ERA and ERA+, which essentially and undeniably tells us one thing: He has been the best pitcher in the league this year.
The Cy Young Award itself says "The Outstanding National League Pitcher." Heck, it doesn't even say the most outstanding pitcher. The only requirement set forth on the trophy is that the pitcher is outstanding. By those standards, a vote for Urias is completely justified, as is a vote for Sandy Alcantara, Carlos Rodon, Max Fried, or a handful of other pitchers.
Interestingly, did you know the award used to say "Most Valuable Pitcher" on it? They didn't make a big deal when they changed it, and the actual criteria didn't change, because there aren't really any set criteria. For the voters, the definition of a Cy Young winner is similar to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it."
Which brings us back to Julio Urias. He's likely to finish second, because Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins is likely to win the award. Alcantara has been almost as good as Urias — his 2.28 ERA and 178 ERA+ are second in the league behind Julio's 2.12 and 198 — and he has thrown 58.2 more innings than Urias (228.2 to 170). That means that Alcantara has provided more value than Urias, as he's essentially the equivalent of Julio and two great relievers following him each start.
As Bill Shaikin reports in the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn't care much for that approach to voting, simply because Julio's lack of innings are a team decision, not a Urias weakness.
“These are decisions I’ve made for the best interest of the organization, the ballclub and him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Teams that are not playing through October have more of a luxury. They don’t have to plan for an extra month of baseball. That’s our reality. That’s a good thing.
“I don’t think he should be penalized for it.”
It's a fair point, to be sure. But where Shaikin might be a little off-base is when he says, "Urías could do this too, if the Dodgers let him." The fact is, we don't know that, and that's kind of the point. Alcantara has done it, and there's no way we can know — or even reasonably expect — that Urias would be better than Alcantara if he had thrown 60 more innings.
And that's where we stand. Roberts is correct that it's easier to throw a ton of innings if you don't have to pitch in October, but that probably just means Dodgers pitchers will be unlikely to win the Cy Young in the near future.
One solution might be to hold the voting after the postseason, so Julio's 20-35 innings he'll hopefully throw over the next month could count, too. But until then, we're probably screaming into the void.
