Game Day: Monday, August 10th

I've been on the message boards most of the morning and the big news of the day is that Ohtani has resumed his pitching activities.  Ohtani has been sidelined with a sore knee and hasn't thrown an inning since July 3rd.   

The Dodgers, they look like a lock to win the NL West with or without Ohtani on the mound.  Despite a (2-8) record over their last10 games, LA still holds a 7.5 game lead over the Diamondbacks, 8.5 games up on the Padres, with just over 40 games to play.  Getting Ohtani sharp for the playoffs is the oriority for this Dodgers' team but what about Ohtani's individual accolades in 2026?  He looked like he could win the Cy Young with how well he pitched into June.  

Ohtani is (8-2) on the season as a starting pitcher with a 1.79 ERA over 85.1 innings. If he makes six starts into the end of the regular season, he is likely to finish the year at approximately 120.0 innings pitched.  It won't qualify him for the ERA title, a pitcher must throw one inning per team game in order to win that accolade.  It's a low number on Cy Young resume.  

There is no official innings requirement for the Cy Young award and Ohtani could get some votes but he is likely a long shot with so few innings pitched on the season, no matter how well he throws the ball in the next six weeks.

The Cy Young discussion got me to looking at the statistics and the odds.  Jacob Misiorowski is the odds on favorite (-525) to win the Cy Young in the NL.  "The Miz" is currently (11-5) with a 1.76 ERA in 133.0 innings pitched this season.  His 13.8 K/9 is nearly the best single season mark of all-time.  If he can qualify for the ERA title (162 innings) and inch that number up to 13.9 K/9, it will be the single highest mark in recorded history for a pitcher who threw 160 or more innings in a season, eclipsing Garrett Cole's 2019 mark of 13.8179.  Cole made 33 starts that season, pitched 212.1 innings, won 20 games and racked 326 K's.  Cole's 2019 season was one of only 16 seasons all-time that an MLB pitcher has thrown 200+ innings, won 20+ games and recorded 300+ strikeouts.

Misiorowski won't come close to those numbers.  If he makes his final eight starts and finishes the season in step with the pace he has set to this point, "The Miz" will post approximately 30 starts, 180 innings pitched, 16 Wins and 275 strike outs.  It's a great season, he could post a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP.  He will likely lead the league in FIP.  Hands-down he wins the Cy Young with those numbers but his season will be short on counting stats in the eyes of the 20W, 200IP, 300K club.

It was a difficult acheivement to accomplish in the days where a pitcher had the opportunity to throw a complete game every time he took the ball.  Today, in the era of innings management and bullpen strategy, it's almost an inpossibility.  The 20 Wins, 200 Innings, 300 Strikeouts season may never happen again.

Great season for "The Miz," can't take nothing away from him.  He didn't have the opportunity to pitch the innings.  It will still go down as one of the all-time greatest seasons for an MLB starting pitcher but it isn't the 20 win club or the 300K club and those are the clubs every truly great pitcher really wants to join.

Ohtani's Cy Young bid comes up short in 2026.  Chris Sale and Christopher Sanchez are still in the race should Misiorowski falter down the stretch.  Jesus Luzardo, Kyle Harrison and Paul Skenes are in the running for a top5 finish.  Zach Wheeler needs 50 more innings for 160 IPs this season.  Wheeler, Chase Burns, Sandy Alcantara and Yoshi Yamamoto round out my top10.  

Ohtani, due to the light workload, finishes outside of the top10 in the NL Cy Young voting this season.  That's my vote.  Everybody has an opinion on what numbers are important.  To me, innings pitched is an important stat.  It's why Alcanatara and Yoshi get the nod over Ohtani for top10 honors.  

That's it for Game Day today.  I managed to get a post written and it feels like an accomplishment.  If I can get a pick in too, I will have it posted before first pitch.  Stay tuned.

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