After a season like the one the Mariners just completed, I often feel like a part of me has been ripped from my core, tarred and feathered, and then thrown over a telephone wire for all to see.  Because at the beginning of every season, despite knowing better, I will lock away rational thought and say to anyone who will listen, “this is the year the Mariners could make some noise!”  And because I never learn my lesson, today after a 91 loss campaign, all I’m left with is the annual walk-of-shame where I offer up a “my bad” to all those who dared to not see the Mariners playing in October.

But in the midst of this shame, there comes a sliver of light in the form of post-season awards.  Because no matter how awful one’s team played, there is always the chance that someone will rise above the fog of ineptitude and actually perform their god-given talent better than anyone else.  And while it doesn’t change the past or necessarily offer hope for the future, it does something much more important.  It recoups a bit of lost dignity. It resurrects buried pride, even if for just a moment.

And that’s big.  It’s huge.

Because the next time you’re at a party, and your friends are giving you grief over Henry Blanco, or Aaron Harang, or any of the numerous choices the Mariners have to offer as examples of how to achieve 91 losses, you can hold your head high, stick out your chest, and utter the words Hisashi Iwakuma.  Because by doing so, I can almost guarantee you the room will suddenly go silent, your friends will take a step back, and that beautiful blonde you’ve been eyeing from across the room will finally take notice.

In a season full of disappointment, Kuma was anything but.  He not only established himself as a bona fide ace for a team that already had one in the form of King Felix, but he also proved to be one of the best pitchers in league.  Arguably, he was the lone bright spot for the Mariners this season.  Sure, Felix also had a good season.  But Felix wasn’t quite Felix.  And Kuma, this year, was simply better.

Which brings us to the Cy Young Award.  Now, I’m under no delusions that Kuma will actually win it.  Nor do I believe he should win it.  He certainly deserves to be mentioned, but there really is no sensible argument that would support Kuma winning the award.

But over at USS Mariner, Jeff Sullivan takes a stab at trying to convince otherwise.  Before I go any further, let me just say I enjoy Sullivan’s writing and analysis on the Mariners.  Lookout Landing has always been in my radius of interesting reads.  USSM? Well, that’s a discussion for another day.  But certainly LL.

In a nutshell, Sullivan relies on RA/9 to make his case for Kuma and the Cy Young.  And specifically, he focuses much of the attention on wOBA.   Now, I love wOBA.  It’s the stat I normally turn to first when evaluating players, especially from an offensive standpoint.  And it certainly is an important stat when evaluating pitching.  So I understand why Sullivan chose to go with it.

Sullivan assures us that there is an argument to be made for Kuma winning the Cy Young based on RA/9 and wOBA.  And I don’t necessarily doubt that.  The problem, though, is that an argument can be made for just about anything.  Just ask my 10-year-old daughter.  She does a fantastic job of making arguments…in regard to just about everything.  This is not to say Sullivan is on equal footing as my daughter, but, more to the point, just because an argument can be made, doesn’t really mean there is an actual argument to be made.

Sullivan’s position is that preventing runners from scoring is a pitcher’s most important job.  And a pitcher does that by preventing batters from getting on base, especially when runners are already occupying the base paths.

And clearly Kuma excelled in this category in 2013.  As Sullivan points out, Kuma’s RA/9 was a league best 2.83, buoyed by a wOBA with runners on base of .248.  And if RA/9 and wOBA were the sole criteria to be used in judging the Cy Young Award, then Kuma should win it.  By a landslide.

And this is where Sullivan goes a bit astray – by relying solely on RA/9 and, more narrowly, wOBA with runners on base, to make his case.

Now, if you are familiar with the guys over at USSM, they like to pride themselves of being objective via their focus on advanced metrics.  Try and infuse debate that isn’t premised in advanced metrics?  It’s a sure way to get mocked and laughed at.

Or banned.

Don’t believe me?  Just go over there and argue for something like, say, lineup protection. Or clutch hitting.  Or the importance of wins by a pitcher.

You’ll become enemy #1 faster than Pat Gillick can put together a playoff caliber MLB roster.

Which is why I’m surprised at how Sullivan chose to approach his position.  Because unless my liberal studies degree has failed me, I’m pretty sure looking at just one – or even two – statistical measures is anything but objective analysis.  Especially when it comes to an award given to the best overall pitcher in each league.  And I say best overall pitcher because the award should be based on multiple factors, not just one, regardless of how important you believe that one factor is.

If we look at Kuma’s wOBA with the bases empty, he falls to 10^th in the league at .287.  Not that 10^th in the league is horrible, but it’s also not stellar.  Clearly Kuma’s elevated wOBA with the bases empty is attributed to his serving up 19 home runs – 7^th most in the league (also, not stellar).  But Kuma also gave up 124 hits in 139.2 innings pitched.  If we look at, say, Max Scherzer – who ranked 1^st in wOBA with the bases empty, he gave up 19 fewer hits while pitching only one less inning.

Broaden the voting criteria a little bit and Kuma ranks 5^th in OPS against (not bad), 9th in Quality Starts Percentage (uh oh), 11^th in SLG against (yikes), and 12^th in WAR (ouch).

Still think Kuma should win the Cy?

Scherzer led the league in WHIP, OBP against, OPS against, and WAR, while finishing 2nd in Quality Starts Percentage, BA against, and SLG against.

Which isn’t to say Scherzer should win the Cy.  But, rather, the more you add to the equation, the less Kuma looks like a Cy Young Award winner, even with his league leading RA/9.

So, with the whole wOBA discussion, perhaps it’s just best to say that Kuma excelled at cleaning up his own mess.  Which is still fantastic.  Just maybe not ideal.  And probably not enough to try to convince anyone that Kuma should win the Cy Young.

Because, personally, one walk-of-shame this season is enough.