Cy Young: Bryce Elder
This really boiled down to two candidates on the team. If I told you that in March, I’m sure you would be racing to look up Max Fried and Spencer Strider’s stats. However, this award was a battle between the mustached man and the other big surprise of 2023, Bryce Elder.
Both were named All-Stars and both are deserving of recognition. Strider has been historic once again and seems to be hitting his STRIDE (I’m so sorry) heading into the second half. However, I decided to pick Elder because he has really stepped up and kept the Braves in so many ballgames.
His numbers have been incredible. Elder owns a 2.97 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 150 ERA+. His slider has been one of the highest value pitches in baseball. He doesn’t strikeout the Calvary like Strider, but he does do a good job of getting the ball on the ground and limiting big innings.
If you were to ask me who the 2nd half Cy Young will be, Elder would probably be 4th on my list. I do think a regression is to be expected, and we sort of saw signs of that in his final start of the first half. Strider and a healthy Fried certainly project to anchor the rotation in the stretch run of 2023. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give Elder his flowers for an incredible first half.