Jonny Venters and the Cy Young Award

There has been enough talk about the negatives with the Braves to last a while, so let’s take a more positive approach; Jonny Venters and his chances to win the Cy Young award. There have only been nine relievers to win the award and all nine have been considered closers, so Venters already has a disadvantage. Voters like numbers, and easily defined numbers at that. A save is an easier number for voters to recognize and associate with dominance, ignoring the various issues with it and the other statistics that could better highlight dominance..  With Venters not having the closer role, obviously his saves will be no where near the nine reliever winners. Will voters recognize that he is one hell of a pitcher without racking up saves? I think they might, but he’ll have to be outstanding in other statistics to compensate for the voters’ tendencies.  It is important to note Craig Kimbrel’s struggles of late. If Venters does receive more time closing in the future, this could further bol...