In the second half of the season, the flow of the national league Cy Young-gaming race is different.
While Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers remains solid, his future prospects are also clear. The second half of Max Scherzer of Washington Nationals and Mike Soroka of Atlanta Braves,who were fiercely chasing Ryu, are some what shaky. And Luis Castillo of the Cincinnati Reds is in a state of war.
Ryu Hyun-jin and Scherzer, who had created a number of disputes over the Cy Young Award throughout the first half of the season, started the second half of the season in a far cry from each other. While Ryu has been keeping his rotation steady, Scherzer has not been seen due to injuries.
Ryu, who had the best-ever performance in the first half, was honored to be on the starting mound on behalf of the National League in the All-Star Game. And even in the second half, Ryu is playing his part regardless of where he his. Ryu pitched his first game in the second half of the game against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday,and pitched a good game with eight hits, one walk and six strikeouts in seven innings. In the game against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, he also earned his first win of the second half and his 11th win of the season with seven innings of four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.
In the game against Boston, the loss was extended by shaky defense, and the bullpen's roughness in the eighth sent the winning pitcher requirement flying. In the game against Miami, the team suffered a rough patch.
On the other hand, Scherzer, who spent June of the advance and showed a powerful man who seemed to have forgotten his age, is now faltering. Scherzer, who was absent from the All-Star game due to back pain, was applied retroactively to the disabled list,as his condition has not improved since then. His pitching became a source of trouble in the last half of the first half. Later, when mucous cyst pain was discovered, he received cortisone injections and tried to improve his condition.According to report Scherzer's pain disappearing on Tuesday, and he is expected to rejoin the Cy Young Race. However, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to regain his strong presence in the first half of the year after his return.
Soroka, who has emerged as a dark horse in the Cy Young Races, which is played by Ryu and Scherzer, is apparently struggling. He has earned 4.07 earned runs (eight earned runs in 172⁄3 innings) in three games he pitched in July, including his last appearance in the first half. His record of 10 wins, two losses and earned run average of 2.46 is flawless for a rookie, but he lost his momentum to join the Cy Young race in the primary and secondary stages. In the game against the Washington Nationals on Monday, he was in a bind with nine hits (one homerun), two walks and four strikeouts in six innings.
In the meantime, Castillo is quietly fighting in the Cy Young race. He pitched six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, dropping his ERA to 2.36 with five hits (one homerun) and striking out four. He is the third-highest ERA after Ryu and Scherzer. The difference between Scherzer is only 0.06. Unlike Soroka, he has recorded quality starts in all four games, recording 1.69 ERA (five earned runs in 262⁄3 innings). He continues to chase in the Cy Young race.