The three candidates to win the AL Cy Young have been announced, and surprisingly Zach Britton isn’t there. The Baltimore Orioles reliever was left out of the shortlist, so the winner will be either Rick Porcello (Boston Red Sox), Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians) or Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers). So despite having one of the best seasons for a reliever in MLB history, Britton isn’t a candidate for the Award that should decide who was the best pitcher in the league.
There are no words to put it: the MLB made a big mistake here.
We get it. The Cy Young Award always go to starting pitchers due to their workload throughout the season. But relivers should get some sort of consideration. Otherwise, it’s inexplicable how players like Britton don’t receive the attention they deserve.
Putting a name to his performance this season would underestimate what he did. The 28-year-old lefty had a spectacular 2016 season for the Orioles. Britton posted a 0.54 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 67 innings (69 appearances). He also led the AL with 47 saves, and didn’t blow a single save chance all season long. He was the league’s best reliever from start to finish, there’s no way to deny it.
As one would expect, Baltimore’s manager Buck Showalter criticized the league for not listing Britton as a finalist to win the Cy Young. The veteran skipper said the decision to not include Britton in the list was “shocking”, but he went a step further in his words.
During an interview with MASN’s Roch Kubatko, Showalter said Britton should’ve been a finalist for the MVP Award as well. “This guy had maybe the best year in the history of relief pitching. He should have finished in the top three in MVP, OK? He should. There’s nobody in baseball who’s more valuable to their team than Zach Britton is to the Orioles.”
It’s still puzzling to hear Showalter saying those words after he didn’t use him in the AL Wild Card Game against the Toronto Blue Jays. But that’s a different story. The point is that Britton did enough to deserve some AL Cy Young consideration. But until MLB changes their voting stance, it’s going to be hard to see a reliever getting the recognition as the best pitcher in the league.