Danny Salazar is having another dominant season for the Indians. After going 14-10 last year, Salazar is 8-3 so far with a 2.23 ERA, good for the second best ERA in the AL entering his start Friday night. Since All Star pitchers are voted on by players and managers, it’s likely Salazar will represent the Tribe in San Diego next month.
Salazar leads the American League in two categories: strikeouts per 9 innings (10.71) and WAR for pitchers (3.6). While the strikeouts stat shows how dominant he’s been, the pitcher’s WAR could be a sign of something much bigger for Salazar this season. The All Star Game is a nice honor, but Salazar could be making a case for a Cy Young Award at the end of the season.
When looking at the 8 Cy Young Awards given since 2012, three statistics have proven to predict winners: the traditional wins and ERA, of course, and pitcher’s WAR. Every pitcher but Max Scherzer in 2013 finished third or better in each of the three categories, with 75% of winners leading the league in wins, 50% leading the league in pitcher’s WAR, and 37% leading the league in ERA.
So what’s all that mean for Salazar? If he can keep his current pace and continue to lead the league in pitcher’s WAR and battle for the top ERA, he could be in the Cy Young conversation at the end of the year. He would probably need to finish in the top 3 in wins to be seriously considered by voters (he ranks fifth right now), but that’s entirely possible as the Indians score an average of 6 runs a game when Salazar starts.
Another boost for Salazar’s case is that it seems he’s getting better as the season goes on. Entering Friday’s game, he is 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in the month of June. If Salazar continues to get better as the season goes on, he could make a strong case for the fourth Cy Young Award for Indians pitchers since 2007.
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