Best AL pitcher, 2009

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be Greinke, but consider this:

Out of Greinke's 33 starts, only 5 were against one of the top four AL teams (NYY, LAA, BOS, TAM). He didn't face the Yankees (best record in baseball by far) at all this year.

His interleague starts were against ARI, HOU, and PIT.

Out of Halladay's 32 starts, 17 were against one of the top four AL teams.

His interleague starts were against ATL and FLA.

Measured by OPS against opposing batters, Halladay faced (on average) the 2nd best hitters in baseball (2nd to Matt Garza), and 17 points higher than the batters that Greinke faced.

i guess pitching a perfect game doesn't count for anything

nope

after this poll, we can vote on whether the earth orbits the sun.

it orbits halladay.

i voted Zack - but one thing that amazes me about Halladay is that even with the most IP in baseball this year (including 9 complete games) he managed to only walk 35.

As far as Halladay vs "Guy with Shiny ERA Pitching for Crappy AL Central Clubs" Cy Young award matchups go, it's a lot tougher to make a case for Doc compared to last year with Cliff Lee. But that 2.16 ERA looks a lot less impressive when it's been compiled at the expense of the White Sox, Indians, and Tigers (all of them in the bottom half of the AL in RS) to the tune of 15 starts, as opposed to the good teams that actually score runs.

what're Greinke's numbers vs East & West?

I understand this angle favoring Halladay, but I think the vote has to be based on counting all major league games as the same.

he only faced the BoSox once and pitched 6 shutout innings and he didn't even face the Yanks this year. 5.25 era in 2 vs TBay.

Greinke, no question

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Normally the strength of competition evens out over the length of the season, but in this case the imbalance is so ridiculously huge that it can't be completely ignored.

CC Sabathia 1

sup sanskrit B-P