Colorado Rockies: That Kyle Freeland guy is a legit Cy Young contender

There is a guy playing for the Colorado Rockies that has become a fan favorite but is a relatively unknown by the national media.  This guy leads the team in wins and has a sub-3.00 ERA and has quietly become a dark horse in National League Cy Young race.  That’s right, I am talking about that Kyle Freeland guy.

To be realistic, Kyle Freeland has little to no chance of winning the NL Cy Young Award.  The Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer and his 16-5 record and 2.11 ERA is on the verge of locking up that race against Aaron Nola and Jacob deGrom.

But by no means, considering Freeland’s numbers and the fact that he pitches so well at Coors Field, should he not garner some consideration for the award.

He doesn’t have the shutdown stuff that Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, or others have but after Friday night’s 11-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves, Freeland is now 11-7 with a 2.96 ERA and 129 strikeouts.  If you throw out his month of April, his stats become downright nasty. Since the start of May, Freeland is 10-3 with a minuscule 2.39 ERA.

To put his stats up against starters the NL, he is 4th overall in WAR, behind Scherzer, Nola, and deGrom, 6th in ERA, and 8th in wins.

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

Freeland has been so good that he is on pace to have the best season by a Rockies’ starter since Ubaldo Jimenez‘s in 2010.  That season, Ubaldo went 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 214 strikeouts.

The biggest case for Cy Young that Freeland has is how well he has pitched at Coors.  In 11 starts at home, he is 7-2 with a 2.22 ERA and 61 strikeouts, with a 1.14 WHIP and a .213 batting average against.

If Rockies’ hitters get downgraded by the national media for playing half of their games at home, then the Rockies pitchers should get even more credit for having to pitch in altitude.

Kyle Freeland won’t win a Cy Young this season but he has definitely solidified himself as the “ace” of the Rockies’ rotation and should be considered one of the top five pitchers in the National League.  People outside of Colorado might not know about that Kyle Freeland Guy but he sure is trying to make them take notice.