Righty wins first Steve Nebraska Award for stellar season
November 21, 2041
Long Beach, CA
Danya Tchekanov has been awarded the Frick League Steve Nebraska Award, given annually to the best pitcher in each league. With the honor, Tchekanov becomes the first Nebraska winner to wear a Long Beach Surfers uniform, and the franchise’s fourth overall. He’s the first since Esteban Gil won the award in 2028 when the franchise was known as the Tucson Cactus.
The twenty four year old righty broke out last season, with 5.6 WAR over 186.2 innings in 33 starts. It was his third season in the BBA, and he finally started to show the promise that was evident from the day he signed with the Surfers in 2035.
This past year, with offense on the rise in record-breaking fashion, the Belarusian starter took a huge step forward. He was given 34 starts, and in a surprising break from traditional Surfer pitcher usage, was allowed to have pitch counts in the upper 90s and even crossed over the 100 pitch mark three times.
The increased usage allowed him to cross the 200 innings pitched barrier, and a spectacular 8 inning, 11 strikeout performance on the final day of the season brought his totals to 207 and 212, respectively. It also lowered his ERA to a league-best 2.57 and WHIP to a league-best 1.04. His walks per nine innings (1.3) and WAR (8.5) also led the Frick League.
Tchekanov’s traditional numbers are backed up by more advanced metrics as well. His 2.57 ERA is backed up by a 2.80 FIP (54 FIP-). His .309 BABIP doesn’t indicate any excessive amount of luck on balls in play either.
His Nebraska winning performance was perfectly timed for his first year of arbitration, following two plus seasons of minimum salary. In-season negotiations resulted in a $6.9 million dollar contract for the 2042 season. Numerous online pundits labeled this deal as “nice” for both Danya and the team, and we at The Independent have no choice but to agree.
