Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer’s chances for the Cy Young Award

The chase for the American League Cy Young award is starting to really come into shape, the Cleveland Indians are hoping their man gets his hat in the race.

We’re about a month and a half away from the end of the MLB regular season which means the yearly awards will be voted on soon. One of which awards is the Cy Young award, and while there are some strong candidates; the Cleveland Indians‘ Trevor Bauer is looking to make his case.

There are some seriously strong contenders this year. Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox looks to be the clear favorite, and the Houston Astros have two contenders in Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. But I don’t have to tell you that is just as likely to win this award as anyone else. That’s because Trevor Bauer will likely tell you that himself.

Let’s go ahead and assume Bauer only misses a few starts. That is the best-case scenario but one that still keeps him in contention for the award.

The ever-outspoken Bauer has made it clear that he is one of the best pitchers in the AL and he’s only getting better. His 2.22 ERA is good for third in the AL, while he is tied with Chris Sale in wins. In fact, he is third in wins on his own team.

Despite that, he is just .1 below Sale in WAR with 5.9. He has the best HR/9 innings ratio in baseball at 0.43. He’s also second in the AL in FIP and has a remarkable WHIP of 1.09. But what does all of this really mean? Most of the stats he trails in, Chris Sale leads.

Sale is having the best year of his career and unlike previous years, he isn’t showing many signs of a second-half decline. The closest thing he showed to such a decline was going on the disabled list, which Trevor Bauer sits on now.

So how does Trevor Bauer improve his odds for the award? Well for starters, he’ll just have to play as he’s been playing. He’s been incredible all year and he really doesn’t have to change much about his play.

The Indians will face Chris Sale in the Red Sox in the coming weeks, last year they scored seven runs off Chris Sale both times they faced him. If the Indians beat up on him yet again, it may make his numbers worse than Bauer’s.

As of right now, it looks like Bauer would finish second in the voting if the season ended now. But if Bauer can get healthy and continue to pitch lights-out and the Indians can get to Chris Sale, his odds may go up.