Baltimore Orioles: Should Zach Britton be in the Cy Young discussion?

Is it unfair to Zach Britton to not put him into the Cy Young award discussion in the American League? He saved his 43rd straight game last night.

You never expected the Baltimore Orioles (or anyone else for that matter) to win a 1-0 game at Fenway Park. But that’s exactly what happened last night, as Zach Britton saved his 43rd consecutive game. He hasn’t blown a save this year – he’s 43-for-43.

In a park like Fenway and in a game with as many implications as last night’s, winning a game 1-0 is a testament to pitching. And the Orioles got perhaps their best outing of the season out of a starter last night from Kevin Gausman – who threw over 115 pitches in the game. Gausman’s line: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. Needless to say, many of the Orioles’ pitchers are starting to step up in big spots when they’re needed most.

This 1-0 win at Fenway should in fairness be put into the context of the fact that the teams had a gale-like wind blowing in their faces all night. When balls would get into the atmosphere and start heading for the fences, they’d get blown back into the park. However all it took was one guy to connect, and that one guy was Mark Trumbo. His second inning homer gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead – which turned into a 1-0 victory.

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However as Britton closed out the game for his 43rd save in a row, I started to think about a question that a lot of folks are starting to ask. Why shouldn’t Britton be in the AL Cy Young award discussion? There is some precedent for a reliever taking home that particular piece of hardware: NY’s SParky Lyle, Chicago’s Bruce Sutter, and Milwaukee’s Rollie Fingers all won it – just to name a few. But a lot of folks aren’t comfortable awarding the Cy Young to a non-starter. If you think about it, that kind of makes sense. But then again, it kind of doesn’t.

And I’m not going to lie, I’m one of those people who’s not exactly comfortable giving a reliever the Cy Young award. However I might be warming to the idea here and there. It’s almost the same argument as a pitcher winning the MVP. On one hand they have their own award – the Cy Young. But on the other, if they’re the most dominant player…how could they not give it to him?

Needless to say, it would take a very special type of season for a reliever to win the Cy Young. It’s not enough to just be great, you really have to be dominant. So if we’re going to be in the business of giving it to a relief pitcher, saving 43-of-43 games is probably the type of season for which you’d look. Incidentally Britton’s also won two games on the season.