Johnson League Awards Preview (Nebraska)

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I previewed the JL Sawyer Silk Award earlier. Now, let me take a look at who the front runners are for the Steve Nebraska Award. As was mentioned in the Silk preview, you really see a broad array of votes from owners. Which stats do the owners put the most stake in? Is ERA the most important? Wins? Strikeouts? VORP? While no one really ever admits it, there are those owners out that pick a stat and rank the players from top to bottom based on that stat opposed to the overall body of work. With pitchers, you can bet the pitcher with the most wins will get quite a few votes based off of that stat alone.

So with that, let's see who leads the league in wins at the moment. That would be Larry Lasalle of Baltimore with 21. The 30 year old Lasalle has been a top notch pitcher in the league for years, but was never able to get over that 20 win milestone until this season. Some things that will hurt Lasalle in the voting is that his 3.20 ERA is not in the top 5. He is 3rd overall in the JL in Ks with 212 and is 2nd in complete games with 10. He's also 2nd in the league in WHIP at 1.02. He leads the league in innings pitched and is 3rd in VORP. Lasalle is probably the frontrunner as we speak for the award.

Robbie Sargent is the current leader in the JL in ERA at 2.45. He is a full 0.23 runs per game ahead of his next closest competitor. The fact that he leads the league in ERA will give Sargent a boost. What hurts Robbie right now is his record which stands at 15-4. It's solid, but his 15 wins don't land him in the top 5 in the JL. Sargent's 201 strikeouts also puts him just outside the top 5. In fact, the only other stat that Sargent finds his name mentioned in the top 5 is VORP. And there, he is 2nd at 60.9, behind our next contender.

Shane Wookey leads the JL in VORP at 62.4. As of right now, Wookey may be LAasalle's biggest threat. Wookey is 2nd in ERA, 2nd in wins, 2nd in inings pitched, 1st in WHIP, and 1st in VORP. His biggest drawback is that he doesn't strike out as many batters as the other big names, but the fact that he is either first or 2nd in nearly all the other important stats will weigh heavily in his favor.

If strikeouts are your thing, then Devon Hyngary is your choice. Hyngary's 246 strikeouts leads the JL at the moment. He could possibly get a few lower tier votes, but his 8-12 overall record and 4.01 ERA will eliminate him from serious Steve Nebraska Award contention.

Then what about Jessie Wright from Madison? He is 2nd in the league in strikeouts with 229 for the season. He has a modest 15-6 overall record with a 3.40 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Unless Wright closes out with 5 outstanding games in September to drop his ERA and boost to 20 wins, he is probably looking at a 4th or 5th place finish at best.

And then there are guys like Ben Walsh, Robert Walton, and Tyree Wills that are having fine seasons and will garner some votes as well. But in the end, it is my opinion that the final choice is between Wookey and Lasalle at the moment.

Lasalle: 21-6; 3.20 ERA; 1.02 WHIP; 212Ks
Wookey: 17-8; 2.68 ERA; 0.99 WHIPl 179Ks
Sargent: 15-4; 2.45 ERA; 1.13 WHIP; 201Ks
Wright: 15-6; 3.40 ERA; 1.12 WHIP; 229Ks

[recte44]

Would be the second in a row for Lasalle if he wins it.

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I have to admit, I know he's my guy, but Wright has been filthy of late...

He is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 35 innings pitched in September. He has allowed only 10 hits and 1 walk in that span with 41 Ks. That's just SICK!!!

Here are the stats of the main guys in contention:
Player A: 17-4, 2.48 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 227 Ks
Player B: 23-6, 3.10 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 228 Ks
Player C: 19-6, 2.91 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 270 Ks
Player D: 18-10, 2.84 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 193 Ks

Those are the top 4 in VORP among starting pitchers.

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With nearly half of the votes in thus far... Here is a quick cheat sheet on the top Nebraska players...

Lasalle: 23-6, 3.10 ERA, 228 Ks, 1.02 WHIP (He was 1st in wins, 7th in ERA, 5th in Ks, and 2nd in WHIP)
Sargent: 18-5, 2.43 ERA, 247 Ks, 1.12 WHIP (He was 4th in wins, 1st in ERA, 3rd in Ks, and 7th in WHIP)
Wright: 20-6, 2.89 ERA, 276 Ks, .996 WHIP (He was 2nd in wins, 3rd in ERA, 1st in Ks, 1st in WHIP)
Wills: 20-10, 2.71 ERA, 206 Ks, 1.17 WHIP (he was 2nd in wins, 2nd in ERA, 9th in Ks, NR in WHIP)

Thus, only one pitcher ranked in the top 3 in all 4 categories.....

If you want to throw in VORP, then it goes:
1. Sargent
2. Wills
3. Lasalle
4. Wright