Nationals take on Marlins in Free Game of the Day

The race for the National League East may be a foregone conclusion, but the pursuit of the NL Cy Young award award remains competitive. With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, a bevy of candidates remain in the conversation. With a strong start on Wednesday against the Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer could really set himself apart from the pack.

No matter which stats you prefer to use, Scherzer may already have a stronger case than his competitors. The 32-year-old righty currently ranks third in the NL in innings pitched, first in strikeouts, third in FanGraphs’ version of WAR (fWAR), first in Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR (bWAR) and sixth with a 2.78 ERA.

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Scherzer’s pursuit of his second Cy Young award will be the focus of Yahoo Sports’ MLB Free Game of the Day. Scherzer and the Nationals will take on Giancarlo Stanton and the division-rival Marlins. The contest, which starts at 7:10 p.m. ET, can be streamed for free free on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index, video home and this very post. Local blackouts apply, per MLB rules.

While WAR is far from the perfect stat, it’s worth looking at where Scherzer ranks in both versions, and whether any of the other candidates truly pose a threat to him taking home the hardware.

By bWAR, Scherzer is the pick. He currently leads all NL pitchers with a 6.3 bWAR. Surprisingly, teammate Tanner Roark ranks with a 5.7 bWAR. The two Nationals are followed by Johnny Cueto (5.4), and then there’s a three-way tie (5.1) between Clayton Kershaw , Madison Bumgarner and Jon Lester for fifth. If you’re interested in learning how bWAR is calculated, go here.

FanGraphs’ version of WAR lists things quite differently. Jose Fernandez (6.2) actually leads the pack there. He’s followed by Noah Syndergaard (6.1). Then, Scherzer shows up at 5.6. Behind that group is the familiar trio of Cueto (5.0), Bumgarner (4.9) and Lester (4.1). For an in-depth look at how fWAR is calculated, check out the FanGraphs glossary.

Using those two formulas, let’s assume those are the eight legitimate candidates for the NL Cy Young award. How does Scherzer stack up against his best competition?

While Fernandez, Kershaw and Syndergaard has put up tremendous numbers this year, we can probably eliminate them from the conversation. Playing time is a huge factor in award voting, and it’s tough to ignore how many more innings Scherzer has thrown than those three candidates. Of that trio, Fernandez has thrown the most innings this year, settling in at 182 1/3 innings pitched. Scherzer is already at 210 2/3 innings pitched prior to Wednesday’s start, and has put up similar numbers in other categories. His playing time gives him a big edge over those candidates.

That leaves Bumgarner, Cueto, Lester and, surprisingly, Roark as challengers for the award. All five players have thrown a similar amount of innings with a similar ERA this year. The one area where Scherzer really outshines those guys is his strikeout total, though.

Scherzer has struck out 31.4 percent of batters this season, good for second in the NL behind Fernandez. Of the candidates we’re still considering Bumgarner comes closest to that figure with a 28.1 percent strikeout rate. None of the other candidates can break 24 percent.

Strikeouts aren’t everything, but they are a great indication of a pitcher’s dominance on the mound. Striking out a batter is often times the best thing a pitcher can do. It prevents balls from being hit in play, and thus prevents almost any chance of a batter reaching base.

For what it’s worth, the oddsmakers seem to think Scherzer is a lock to take home the award. In the latest odds update, Scherzer was a 1/5 favorite to win the NL Cy Young according to Bovada.

Based on both his playing time and strikeouts this season, there’s an argument to be made that Scherzer has been the most dominant pitcher in the NL this year. With a strong start against the Marlins on Wednesday, it may no longer be up for debate.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik