When I cast my vote for the Cy Young Award, I have one criteria and one criteria only; I will vote for the best pitcher. The hard part is how to determine who the best pitcher is. 

I’m old enough to learn not to put too much weight into win-loss record, but I’ll be honest with you. There’s a traditionalist part of me that would have a hard time completely discounting it. I think k the main reason is I’ve seen enough Jon Niese starts to see a pitcher meltdown can lead to a loss even if his stat line looks good. However, I’ll put so little weight on this you shouldn’t worry. 

My father raised me to look at ERA because back then it was more indicative of a pitcher’s talent. However, it is now 2015, and there are so many stats, and combination of stats, to look at that ERA now seems like it’s arcane. Personally, I like FIP as a substitute. 

There’s other stats I like as well like BABIP, hard hit rate, and LOB%. However, I won’t focus on any one stat over another. I will however focus more on starters than relievers because starters have a much greater impact than relievers. It doesn’t mean I’ll never vote for a reliever. It just means that reliever better be doing something special. 

Overall, my goal is to vote for the person I think had the best year. This is the person you would want starting Game One of the World Series.