Post season Awards talk

[Tyler]

Could anyone not voting for Connan McCullough for IL Golden Arm state their case? I'm interested in hearing your perspective.

[James Bowman]

Could anyone not voting for Connan McCullough for IL Golden Arm state their case? I'm interested in hearing your perspective.

I admit to this curiosity as well. I've already voted for Conan, and don't think my mind could be changed either way, but I'd love to hear the differing perspectives.

[John]

One of the many advantages to the new StatsLab suite is that I can review how owners voted, something that wasn't possible in the old utilities. So I know who all didn't vote Conan #1 for IL Golden Arm. Don't worry, fellas; I won't out you.

I will, however, out myself. I'm one of those that didn't vote Conan McCullough #1. I had him #2 on my ballot behind Victor "Alibi" Matos. Both players were outstanding and have solid claims to the award. As I was looking them over, I kept thinking how evenly they matched up in so many areas. Conan had more Ks, sure, but he also had more walks. Alibi had a better WHIP but Conan had the better ERA. One big difference was Conan's preternatural ability to keep the ball in the park, and that did come under consideration.

At the end, though, it was still so close, and once it was that tight after all things being considered I had to think about the end results for each player. Conan led his team to the playoffs, but Alibi was instrumental in leading Charleston to their PEC victory. Both players were great in the playoffs, but for Conan it was just one game while Alibi was stellar for five. You could argue that postseason stats shouldn't factor in, and that's perhaps true, but again it was so close for me between these two that I really needed something to differentiate them. The playoff results ended up being that differentiating factor.