The 2021 MLB season has been full of surprises.
Many teams and players have exceeded expectations, but the opposite is also true.
And today, we’re going to be talking about the latter.
More specifically, we’ll be focusing on three preseason NL Cy Young candidates who have had disappointing campaigns.
For this piece, we won’t be considering players whose seasons were completely derailed by injuries (or other issues).
Instead, we’re going to look at players who have simply underperformed.
Let’s get started.
3. Blake Snell
Thanks to his outstanding track record, Blake Snell entered the year with the seventh-best NL Cy Young odds according to one major sportsbook.
As many MLB fans likely remember, Snell won a Cy Young Award in 2018, and Vegas seemingly thought he had a fair chance at getting another in 2021.
But that’s not going to happen.
Snell’s season is likely done, as he the IL a couple of weeks ago with a groin issue.
He’s going to finish the year with a 4.20 ERA, 92 ERA+, 3.81 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, and 1.3 WAR across 27 starts.
He did manage to strike out 170 batters over 128.2 innings, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot when you’re having a hard time keeping runs off the board.
It was a very forgettable season for him.
The lefty will hope to bounce back in 2022.
2. Aaron Nola
Aaron Nola had the sixth-best NL Cy Young odds to start the year according to the aforementioned sportsbook.
After pitching to a 3.23 ERA from 2017 to 2020, he was a relatively popular pick to have a strong season in 2021.
But surprisingly, he has struggled mightily.
He has a 4.64 ERA and 89 ERA+ over 31 starts.
Now, if you put a lot of stock into predictive statistics, then you might buy into the idea that Nola has been better than his ERA suggests this season.
He has a 3.38 FIP (which implies that his ERA should be more than a full run lower than it is) and a .308 opponent BABIP (which implies that he has been absurdly unlucky regarding the outcomes of batted balls).
This inning feels like a microcosm of Aaron Nola’s season. Loads the bases for the bottom of the order of a bad team, gets to 2 outs, then the opposing pitcher hits a bloop 2-run single and a 3-run homer follows.
Phillies are down 5-0. Nola’s ERA is 4.70
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) September 23, 2021
But it is what it is at this point.
All Nola can do from here on out is try to help his team reach the postseason.
His Philadelphia Phillies have a massive series on deck with the Atlanta Braves, and he’ll be on the mound on Wednesday night in the biggest start of his season.
1. Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish joins Snell as the second San Diego Padres hurler on this list.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a list you want to land on.
Darvish had the fifth-best NL Cy Young odds to start the year according to the aforementioned sportsbook, but he hasn’t pitched like a Cy Young candidate this season.
He has a 4.21 ERA, 92 ERA+, and 3.91 FIP over 29 starts.
He pitched well enough in the first half of the season to earn an All-Star selection, but over his last 12 starts, he has a 6.86 ERA.
Yu darvish has been horrendous the second half of the season smh
— gizmo🦁 (@Jays1of1) September 14, 2021
San Diego has gone 4-8 in those 12 games.
Darvish is under contract with the Padres for two more seasons, so the team is certainly hoping to see different results from the five-time All-Star in 2022 and 2023.
Leave a Reply