New York Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia should be the Cy Young winner in the American League.
And it's not just because I'm a Yankees fan.
Sabathia is 21-7 and is the best pitcher on, arguably, the best team in baseball, while Felix Hernandez is only 13-12.
But the disparity in wins is only the tip of the iceberg when making a case for the lefty big man.
Next is pressure.
As the regular season winds down, the Yankees rely on Sabathia to have a quality start every time he heads to the mound.
He may even have to pitch Sunday against the Red Sox, with home-field advantage in the playoffs on the line.
The Seattle Mariners, on the other hand, are currently 27 games out of first place in the A.L. West and haven't played a meaningful game since the All-Star break.
Hernandez has very little pressure on him during each start, especially since he is 3,000 miles away from the criticism and scrutiny of the New York media.
Sabathia deals with this scrutiny night in and night out in front of ruthless fans and media that look at each pitch closely.
Proponents of Hernandez are quick to say that win total doesn't matter, and Hernandez leads the American League in statistical categories such as earned run average, strikeouts and WHIP.
But what is quickly forgotten is the competition Sabathia faces during the season and the ballpark at which he pitches the majority of his games.
Sabathia pitched against above .500 A.L. East teams nine times this season, compared to Hernandez, who has only five starts.
The bulk of Hernandez's starts are against A.L. West competition (14), which includes the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's, who are both under .500.
In addition to the tougher competition, Sabathia pitches at Yankee Stadium, the most hitter-friendly ballpark in Major League Baseball. Safeco Field, where the Mariners play, on the other hand, is the second worst ballpark for hitters in the A.L.
Despite this drastic difference, Hernandez's ERA is less than one run better than Sabathia's.
The numbers don't necessarily speak for themselves. Sabathia gets my vote this year.
E-mail: jacob.laurenti@ubspectrum.com
