Ryan Dempster in the conversation for the Cy Young Award? Seriously? As weird as I felt just writing that sentence, the unprecedented start for Cubs righthander Ryan Dempster has to merit at least some consideration (at least less than 3 months into the season) for the National League’s Cy Young award. Last night he tossed a complete game shutout against the Braves (with 11 K’s), racking up his eighth win of the season and dropping his ERA to 2.81. You may think I am crazy or an idiot (or both) for even suggesting this, but check out his number so far this season.
As of June 12, Dempster ranks among the top 10 in the NL in ERA (2.81, fifth in the NL), strikeouts (75, 10th in the NL), wins (8, fourth in the NL), and innings pitched (89.2, ninth). Not only has Dempster been durable and consistent, opponents are batting a ridiculously low .185 off him this season, which ranks second in all of baseball. It is bizarre baseball at its finest.
To say that Dempster’s season has been a surprise is like saying winning the lottery might “catch me a bit off guard.” Prior to this season, Dempster had never won more than 15 games as a starter and had only one season as a starting pitcher where his ERA was under 4.00 (which was 2000, when he was an all-star selection and finished with a 3.66 ERA). He was less than steady as the Cubs closer for three seasons, but his transition back to the starting rotation has (so far) been seamless.
Can he keep it up? Well, opponents are only hitting .216 against Dempster when they put the ball in play (Batting Average on Balls in Play, or BABIP for short), and some of this is based on plain luck. The league average on BABIP is around .290, so there is a strong possibility that Dempster will regress to the mean and that his ERA will rise as the season wears on. Regardless, it has been an impressive start for Dempster, who has stabilized the rotation with Rich Hill and Sean Marshall currently at AAA Iowa.
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