2022 MLB NL CY Young Watch: July
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MLB

2022 MLB NL CY Young Watch: July

Zach PressnellBy 4 Mins Read

The MLB CY Young award is given out to the best pitcher from each league at the end of every regular season. The National League features a few familiar faces from last weeks edition of the NL CY Young Watch. But, the month of June has been a very interesting one. Let’s dive into the MLB NL CY Young Watch for the month of July.

Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers

W-L Record: 7-4

ERA: 2.36

Innings Pitched: 99.33

WHIP: 0.92

Strikeouts: 124

WAR: 3.1

Corbin Burnes was the 2021 NL CY Young winner. He has returned in 2022 with a season that rivals his 2021 campaign. Burnes was my pick for the NL CY Young after the month of June. He put together a strong June, although he had a few rough starts mixed in there. This season, his breaking pitches have been elite. He has serious swing-and-miss stuff. He has allowed a .200 or lower batting average on his cutter, slider, and curveball this season. Musgrove remains one of the top pitchers in Whiff%, fastball spin, K%, and Chase Rate. This is the kind of dominance that could propel somebody into back-to-back CY Young awards.

Joe Musgrove, SP, San Diego Padres

W-L Record: 8-2

ERA: 2.25

Innings Pitched: 92.0

WHIP: 0.95

Strikeouts: 92

WAR: 2.2

Through 11 starts, Joe Musgrove had put together a tremendous resume for the 2022 season. He had made 11 starts, and each one of them was a quality start. He was 8-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a WHIP below 0.90. But since then, in his 3 starts, he has compiled 20 innings and 11 earned runs. This has raised his ERA to 2.25. Musgrove is still one of the top pitchers in this discussion, even with a rough few weeks. He remains tied for second at +500 in the Vegas betting odds. Musgrove throws breaking balls nearly 50% of the time, with 28% of his pitches being his slider. If his slider can continue to be dominant(.154 batting average allowed), Musgrove will continue to be a nightmare to hitters and he will remain at the top of this list.

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Miami Marlins

W-L Record: 8-3

ERA: 1.95

Innings Pitched: 115.33

WHIP: 0.95

Strikeouts: 97

WAR: 4.5

Sandy Alcantara failed to make this list last month, as his teammate Pablo Lopez had been one of the league’s best. Now, a month later, Alcantara might be the top pitcher on his team, and maybe even the top pitcher in the league. The young Miami star features a true 4-pitch mix. He features a changeup(26.4% usage rate), fastball(25.1% usage rate), slider(24.5% usage rate), and sinker(23.7% usage rate). He has one of the highest average fastball velocities in the entire league, averaging 98 MPH on the pitch. Alcantara also routinely throws changeups upwards of 92 MPH. His 115.33 innings pitched are the most among all pitchers in the league, by a healthy margin.

Prediction: Sandy Alcantara, SP, Miami Marlins

As of now, Sandy Alcantara is the NL CY Young. Alcantara is the odds-on favorite to take home the award now. He has shown that his dominance is sustainable for upwards of 200 innings and upwards of 200 strikeouts. He is the NL leader in ERA and the MLB leader in pitchers WAR. WAR is one of the most important stats to the award voters and Alcantara is the runaway leader in that category. It is not unreasonable to think that he could tally 230 innings and hold an ERA below 2.20 and a WHIP below 1.00. Sandy Alcantara is the midseason NL CY Young.

 

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