Read the Loyal Homer’s and Bleacher Fan’s arguments about who they believe is the best pitcher of the 2009 MLB season.
St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter may not win the Cy Young award, but he is the best pitcher of the 2009 season.
Sure, Carpenter’s statistics are excellent as the regular season winds down. With a couple of starts still left on his 2009 calendar, Carpenter has won 16 games against just four losses and compiled a very impressive 2.45 ERA. Carpenter has also walked only 32 batters all season, while striking out 132 – a good total for a veteran pitcher not known for his high strike out totals anymore.
Carpenter’s regular season exploits forecast clutch performances in the upcoming playoffs, too. Carpenter has held opponents’ batting averages below .200 on the road this season (.198, to be exact). He has allowed just seven home runs all season and pitched three complete games. While June and September have been his worst months to date, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is taking measures to ensure Carpenter’s freshness for the postseason. While Carpenter has compiled a 2.76 ERA at home this season, LaRussa may be more inclined to use the veteran to earn those hard fought game three road victories given Carpenter’s road performances this season. A veteran pitcher who brilliantly executes a game plan is exactly what a manager needs when starting the road portion of playoff series.
While Carpenter has performed impressively in all situations in 2009, those performances are quite remarkable when considering the context.
Carpenter appeared in a grand total of five games combined over the course of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He pitched just 21.1 innings over that span, also. Carpenter has battled elbow and back injuries that may have caused a lesser pitcher to up the cleats after the multiple setbacks. Carpenter also struggled with a muscle injury earlier in the 2009 season, causing him to miss several starts – and probably his shot at the Cy Young award.
Carpenter has the stuff to be a great pitcher. Fans and media alike took notice of his talents in 2005 when he helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series title on the strength of a Cy Young winning year. But, that was four seasons ago. The injuries and various other changes in the game of baseball make it surprising and amazing that Carpenter has again emerged as one of the better pitchers in the game.
Especially unique is the Carpenter’s willingness to remain committed to his hitting coach’s philosophy of using a breaking ball as the primary pitch, rather than an out pitch. You may be telling your computer screen right now, “Hey, Sports Geek, you idiot, doesn’t it make sense that a guy who won the Cy Young award before would stick with the philosophy that already works for him?” Sure, it makes sense. But having recovered from major elbow surgery – perhaps necessary due to the high volume of arm torque-ing breaking balls Carpenter is required to throw as a Cardinals pitcher and Duncan pupil – is not small thing. Continually throwing the pitch that may have caused the need for the elbow surgery in the first place… some call it brave and courageous, others will call it stupid. I call it successful.
Chris Carpenter has put together an outstanding season despite very difficult circumstances. He is an experienced anchor of a successful pitching staff, and a manager’s dream. He may not have the most impressive statistics (in fact, those may belong to his teammate Adam Wainwright). What Carpenter has accomplished in 2009 is extremely impressive. And what he will likely accomplish this October only adds additional proof that he is the best pitcher of the 2009 Major League Baseball season.
