It’s a great debate to have. Who should win the NL Cy Young Award? I’ll start by saying that last year’s winner Tim Lincecum of the Giants is a great pitcher and had another great year, but because the Giants were non-contenders you have to dismiss him. I know the same can’t be said about Zack Greinke, but there was no other pitcher that dominating. The same can’t be said in the NL.

Chris Carpenter went 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA and Adam Wainwright went 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA. Both pitchers certainly have the numbers to back their claim. I’d be surprised if there is a clear cut winner in this vote, but I believe Carp and Waino will be one-two or vice-versa.

My argument for Carpenter. His ERA was 2.24. He only allowed seven home runs in 192.2 innings and walked just 38 as opposed to 144 strikeouts, plus he had three complete games and one shutout. The knock against Carp. He spent a month on the DL and only made 28 starts.

My argument for Wainwright. He finished with 19 wins and his ERA was not shabby either, just 2.63. He threw 233 innings and struck out 212 batters while walking 66. Remember, many of those walks came when he had control problems early in the year, but once he figured out a slight mechanical flaw, he was much better. The knock against Wainwright. He only had one complete game and no shutouts and if you look a little deeper at the stats, Wainwright didn’t put up his best numbers while Carpenter was on the DL. While, you don’t need to be necessarily be the ace of your staff to win, it shows that Carpenter was the leader of this staff.

Earlier in the summer, I did a podcast with Brent Martin and Steve Walsh from our news department and I said all along Carpenter should be the winner. Yeah, he had six fewer starts, but only two fewer wins adn he only lost four times in 28 chances. His winning percentage was .810. He averaged less than two walks every nine innings and just over seven hits for nine innings. He kept the ball in the park, on the ground and kept his team in every game he pitched. I stuck by Carpenter then, I stick by him now.

Find out a 1pm at twitter.com/missourisports for the announcement of the winner.