Colorado Rockies: The keys to winning awards based on past results

The Colorado Rockies have the same annual problem: pitching.

Some years, the bullpen struggles – most years, probably – and other years, the rotation falters. Through it all, they’ve had multiple pitchers put together seasons worthy of award consideration.

In 2018, an argument could be made the Rockies deserved a pair of Cy Young considerations. Kyle Freeland finished fourth, posting a 2.85 earned run average across 202.1 innings. His running mate, Germán Márquez, posted a 3.77 mark, including a 2.61 tally in his 14, second-half starts.

Freeland’s track record since then has largely proved voter’s opinions right.

Jacob deGrom raced out to a 1.70 ERA across 32 starts – 31 of which saw the hurler allow three earned runs or less. The season brought about images of Bob Gibson’s 1968 campaign.

Arguing Freeland’s legitimacy as a candidate is easy. Arguing he should’ve won is a much harder task given the historic season of his counterpart from Queens.

The easier case to argue is Ubaldo Jimenez’s 2010 trek to lore.

The late Roy Halladay, thanks to a 2.44 ERA in Philadelphia’s run to a National League Championship Series appearance, took home the hardware. Part of the problem arises when looking at his numbers.

In 2010, Jimenez finished with a 2.88 ERA and a 161 ERA+ which adjusts to a player’s ballpark. Those marks, while being some of the best in club history, are also inches, not feet, away from those of Halladay.

An argument can easily be made for Jimenez over every pitcher who finished ahead of him in 2010. For a piece of history to aid his case, he also tossed a no-hitter against the Braves and went eight-or-more innings in nine different starts.

Throw Jimenez and Freeland’s candidacy into the 2007 race – where Jeff Francis finished ninth despite a 4.22 ERA – and both likely take home the award. Timing can often be a looming factor on awards.