FanHouse MlbAwardWatch

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing twice a month until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Cy Young award races. This is the second installment.

National League: John Maine

The Mets can thank Anna Benson. If you believe the tabloids, it was Anna's plunging Christmas dress at a team function where hubby Kris was Santa Claus for a group of children that was the last straw in trading Benson for Jorge Julio ... and a throw-in named John Maine. Maine is now 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA, and wouldn't it be funny if the Mets came up with a Cy Young award winner in 2007, the season where their starting pitching was widely thought of as just a step above kitchen grime in its usefulness. Maine, who pitches tonight against San Francisco, barely beats out Brad Penny, who after striking out 15 and walking 17 in his first six starts this season, struck out 14 and walked none on Monday night against Florida.

Also in the mix:
Brad Penny: 4-0, 1.39 ERA
Jake Peavy: 4-1, 1.75 ERA 56 K's
Rich Hill: 4-1, 1.73 ERA
Tim Hudson: 3-1, 1.70 ERA

American League: Josh Beckett

At 7-0 after last night's drubbing of the Blue Jays, Beckett is threatening to make a mockery of the Cy Young race. C.C. Sabathia is keeping pace at 5-0. But Beckett's 1.06 WHIP, .219 batting average against, and 2.72 ERA bests Sabathia significantly, and those numbers are before last night's game, where he went seven innings, giving up five hits, only one walk. (Hey, that Hanley Ramirez trade doesn't look so bad now, does it?) Beckett leads a good starting staff, with Daisuke Matsuzaka providing the hype, Curt Schilling providing the biting commentary, Tim Wakefield providing the knuckleball, and Beckett providing nothing more than solid pitching. The Blue Jays announcers tried to hate during Tuesday night's game, remarking that at some point, "this roll's gotta stop ... Beckett's not going to go 35-0". Probably not ... but winning the Cy Young award isn't going to take a 35-0 record.

Also in the mix:
C.C. Sabathia: 5-0, 61 K's
Roy Halladay: 4-1, 2 CG's, 1.06 WHIP
Gil Meche: 3-1, 2.23 ERA

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing once a week until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Rookie of the Year award races. This is the first installment.

National League: Josh Hamilton

Considered an afterthought by many even after his hot spring, Hamilton has surprised everyone by showing off an uncanny amount of big-league power for a guy with almost no experience above the low minors. He wasn't originally expected to play everyday, but he's forcing his way into the lineup with six home runs in his first 51 at-bats, hitting .294/.400/.706 while looking every bit like the former first-overall draft pick he was.

Also in the mix:
Jason Hirsh, Rockies
Carlos Ruiz, Phillies

American League: Daisuke Matsuzaka

Dice-K has been solid, but he's the early-season favorite almost as much by default as anything he's actually done: Alex Gordon has been awful (.159/.284./.290) and Delmon Young has been good but not outstanding (.274/.290/.422 with three home runs and 13 RBI). Matsuzaka's countrymate Akinori Iwamura has actually put up the best numbers among AL rookie hitters (.339/.479/.482), but in the end I have to hand it to Dice-K for meeting expectations and then some with 31 strikeouts in 27 innings. His 4.00 ERA is hardly jaw-dropping, but it's skewed by one bad start against the Yankees, for which he'll have a chance to avenge this weekend.

Also in the mix:
Akinori Iwamura, Devil Rays
Delmon Young, Devil Rays

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing once a week until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Cy Young award races. This is the first installment.

National League: Tim Hudson

There have been a lot of great pitching performances over the first few weeks in the N.L., and the race is close. Cubs lefty Rich Hill had barely edged out Tim Hudson for this first installment with only seven walks and eight hits given up in his first 22 innings, and a stellar 0.41 ERA. But Hill's first loss of the season to the Brewers knocks him off of the perch at the last minute. Hudson's 0.62 ERA is scary good, and he could stay in the lead for a while because I suspect Hudson is on a mission to prove last season was a fluke.

Also in the mix:
Cole Hamels: 33 strikeouts and only six walks in 28 innings
Brad Penny: 3-0 record, 1.37 ERA
Rich Hill: 1.57 ERA, 3-1 record.
Matt Cain: 1.55 record, 0.83 WHIP

American League: Josh Beckett

Beckett was considered a bust in his first season in the American League. But Beckett was self-aware enough to realize that pitch selection was a problem. So he has adjusted in season two, and the results are palpable. A 4-0 record, 25 strikeouts and seven walks, and a 2.55 ERA in 24 and 2/3's innings is good enough to lead the way for A.L. Cy Young honors. You could also make a case for Indians lefty C.C. Sabathia, but Iet's give Beckett the nod for giving up only 19 hits to Sabathia's 30 (albeit in three and a third less innings).

Also in the mix:
C.C. Sabathia: 3-0 record, 27 K's in 28 innings
Johan Santana: 32 K's in 27 innings
Roy Halladay: 2-0 record, 2.37 ERA
Dan Haren: 1.41 ERA in 32 innings