MLB Stats, Standings & News: Latino Pitchers Lead American and National League in Wins
Just over 50 games in to this Major League Baseball season the Kansas City Royals are defending their American League crown, the Baltimore Orioles have been a huge disappointment and the St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in the league.
But, outside of team wins and losses, fans are watching excellent pitching this year from multiple Latin American born pitchers. A Latin American-born pitcher leads both the American and National League in wins so far this season.
Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is having another All-Star season with a league-leading eight victories and just two losses as well as two shutouts. The 29-year-old out of Venezuela has a 2.63 earned runs against average, and he could very well win the AL CY Young award this season. Hernandez won the CY Young award back in 2010 with the Mariners. Unfortunately for Fernandez, the Mariners rank 28th in scoring, so his team is struggling at 24-29.
Hernandez's partner in crime, Fernando Rodney, is one of the best closers in the game today. Rodney led all of MLB last season with 48 saves, and the two dynamic pitchers are almost unbeatable when on top of their game.
Staying in the AL, Michael Pineda has been fantastic this season for the New York Yankees. Pineda is 7-2 this season, and he ranks fourth in strikeouts with 76. The Bronx Bombers are presently in first place in the American League East thanks to Pineda's breakout year. Pineda couldn't have picked a better time to peak, especially considering C.C. Sabathia looks to be all but finished. We haven't seen a Yankee win the CY Young award since 2001 when Roger Clemens posted a 20-3 record for the Pinstripes.
Even Carlos Carrasco has been pitching great for the Cleveland Indians this year. The Venezuelan right hander has seven wins and 74 strikeouts.
Over in the National League, Bartolo Colon has the New York Mets in first place in the National League East. How Colon is doing this at 42 years old (and 265 pounds) is a mystery. Colon leads all NL pitchers with eight wins, and he has walked just five batters this entire season. Clemens won the CY Young award when he was 42 years old with the Houston Astros; could Colon match that MLB record?
Pittsburgh Pirates Francisco Liriano has been on fire lately with an enormous 10.9 strikeout per nine inning ratio. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto, who has been in trade rumors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has an outstanding 2.90 ERA. Relievers Jeurys Familia of the Mets and Santiago Casilla of the San Francisco Giants each have 15 saves this season, ranking fourth best in the NL.
According to multiple league reports, MLB demographics have shown that just over 24 percent of all MLB players are from Latin American nations. The Dominican Republic has the most current players in MLB born outside the United States of any territory.
There's still a long way to go in this season before we start handing out awards, but multiple Latino pitchers are certainly in the running for numerous honors.