Picking our MLB National League award winners

I’ll make it up to Atlanta fans everywhere by going a little outside the box here. Everyone has just given this award to Blake Snell already, given that he’s made 23 straight starts while giving up three runs or fewer and has a 0.50 ERA in September. A September that didn’t really matter for San Diego, but that’s not his fault.

But Strider has been better, and if you strip out stats that involve luck in any way or the defense behind the pitcher, Strider is a clear leader. He’s struck out more hitters than Snell, he has a better xERA and FIP, and he’s walked way fewer hitters. Snell’s supporters can, and rightly, claim that whether you hit it within two feet of the cup from the fairway or the woods, it’s still a birdie, and Snell has been doing his fair share of saving himself out of the trees with the number of hitters he’s walked. Snell has walked nearly twice the amount of hitters Strider has (55 to 99). If you have to give the ball to someone for one game that has to be won or Putin will have you defenestrated, I’m taking the guy more likely to put up 13 Ks with one walk than 12 with four.