Award Watch 2017: Do any Atlanta Braves have a shot at major awards?

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Apr 9, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran (49) throws the ball against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

Cy Young: Julio Teheran

As it stands, the Braves are one of just two organizations to have multiple Cy Young winners on their roster (Boston – David Price, Rick Porcello).

That being said, a repeat by either Bartolo Colon or R.A. Dickey is about as likely as Chipper repeating as MVP this year.

Let’s do some Player A, Player B with peripheral stats from 2016.

Player A: 7.99 K/9, 1.96 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, .260 BABIP, 77.8 LOB%, 39.1 GB%
Player B: 7.63 K/9, 1.29 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9, .269 BABIP, 74.3 LOB%, 43.1 GB%

Without seeing anything else, which pitcher would you prefer on your team?

Player A has a slight advantage in both strikeout and strand rate. Meanwhile, Player B has a small edge in walk, home run, and ground ball rate.

Overall, though, they’re nearly indistinguishable.

Player A is Teheran. He finished 7-10 with a 3.21 earned run average over 188 innings.

Player B is Porcello. He finished 22-4 with a 3.15 earned run average over 223 innings and took home the AL Cy Young award.

In a league with Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Noah Syndergaard, and many, many more outstanding starting pitchers, it’s tough to break into the conversation for NL Cy Young.

Still, as Porcello showed last season, sometimes solid peripherals can turn into really flashy overall numbers when it’s all said and done.

After winning six Cy Young’s in the 1990s, Atlanta’s drought is now approaching 20 years. While it’s unlikely to be broken this season, Teheran represents the best chance.

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