Carlos Zambrano continued his Cy Young quality season with his 8th win, lowering his ERA to 2.25. Despite feeling woozy with a headache before the game, Zambrano pitched six and two thirds innings, allowing 1 (earned) run on 5 hits, 4 walks, and 8 punchouts. The Cubs won their second straight game, 8th out of 9 played, and 12th of their last 17. The Cubs pitchers have allowed only 2.43 runs per game in the last week.
The Cy Young Contenders: To begin, I eliminated all pitchers with less than 7 wins. Next, I eliminated all pitchers with an ERA above 3.5, and then lowered the bar to 3.1 when there was a clear gap between pitchers with a 3.4ish ERA and those with a 3.0+ ERA. These two criteria left me with 7 pitchers who I would consider voting for as Cy Young right now.
| Pitcher | Record | ERA | WHIP | K/9 | IP/Start |
| Tom Glavine | 7-3 | 2.07 | .961 | 4.50 | 6.94 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 8-2 | 2.25 | 1.125 | 8.34 | 7.38 |
| Jason Schmidt | 9-2 | 2.26 | .943 | 10.16 | 7.6 |
| Carl Pavano | 7-2 | 2.81 | 1.02 | 5.25 | 7.38 |
| Roger Clemens | 9-2 | 2.84 | 1.24 | 9.90 | 6.3 |
| Randy Johnson | 9-5 | 3.05 | .899 | 10.16 | 6.67 |
| Matt Clement | 7-5 | 3.07 | 1.11 | 9.46 | 6.67 |
All of these pitchers are having excellent seasons, but I am going to eliminate Clement because he has the weakest won-loss record and ERA in the group. Next, I am eliminating the Big Unit because Johnson is the only pitcher remaining with a 3+ ERA and has 5 losses. Then, I would vote Pavano off Cy Young's island because he has a significantly weaker ERA than Glavine, Zambrano, and Schmidt, as well as only 7 wins.
Now, I am down to my top four pitchers, Glavine, Zambrano, Schmidt, and Clemens. Purely by the numbers, I would eliminate Clemens next because of his higher ERA, and shorter average start. By definition, the Cy Young winner should be the most dominant pitcher in his league, and the Rocket has been leaving games nearly a full inning sooner than the other three guys left on the island.
The final three, Glavine, Zambrano, and Schmidt not suprisingly have the three best ERA's. While I don't think a pitcher's won loss record is the best determinant of his record, I will eliminate Glavine next, partially because he has the fewest wins, but mainly because his k/9 ratio is significantly less than Zambrano and Schmidt's. A pitcher's k/9 ratio is one of the better statistics for gauging a pitcher's dominance.
Next, as much as I don't want to, I would eliminate Zambrano and crown Schmidt as winner of thecubdom.com's "Cy Young through June 20th" award. Schmidt averages an extra out per start more than Zambrano, and has a better k/9 ratio. His ERA is .01 point higher than Carlos, and he has an extra win.
All of this is to say, I believe Zambrano is the second best pitcher in the National League right now, and I would select him to start a crucial game before any other pitcher but Schmidt.
Similarly, I believe Matt Clement is probably the seventh best pitcher in the NL right now, which isn't bad considering he was considered the Cubs #5 starter at the beginning of this season.
