When it comes to figuring out who the National League Cy Young will be, there are plenty of names that come to mind rather quickly. You can bring up Chris Carpenter, Roger Clemens, and Roy Oswalt, and no one would even blink. Today I am going to be adding a name to that list, and hopefully after reading this article, you will be paying more attention to John Patterson of the Washington Nationals.
First we must acknowledge how much of a prospect John Patterson was coming into the Major Leagues. By knowing that John Patterson’s expectations were very high, we can assume that what he has done during his career is legitimate. The first fact that is proof of his overall ability is the idea that John Patterson was the number five overall selection in the 1996 amateur draft. Being a first round selection is always an indication of ability and potential, and being the 5th overall selection enforces those ideas even more so.
In the year 2000, BaseballAmerica.com had John as the 10th best prospect in the minor leagues. To put that in perspective, other number 10 overall prospects include: Mark Teixeira, Miguel Tejada, Nomar Garciaparra, and Francisco Rodriguez. All of those guys have enjoyed tremendous success for at least a short period of time, and I expect John Patterson to do the same this coming season.
Now that we have realized the great potential and ability John Patterson always had, we can analyze last year’s performance and see how that will transition to this year. Last year, John Patterson was one of the most electrifying pitchers in the National League. The Nationals relied on Patterson’s arm each time out to keep them in the game. He nearly reached 200 innings pitched, while having a 3-1 strike out to walk ratio. Most dominant pitchers achieve roughly one strikeout per inning pitched, and John is no different. So his general pitching credentials are there, but what about his performance last year, he didn’t win much, and his ERA wasn’t that great right?
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
I'm not one to say "well you were wrong on x, so you're wrong on y," but you were close on Bradley's Final Four appearance. A different middie made it to Indy. So perhaps by this logic another young dude with a good 2005 has a career year.
Brandon Webb, Brett Myers, Doug Davis. Zach Duke?
2 - AJ Vaynerchuk
Fair enough, as an aside, I am in love with Brett Myers. I would not blink a second if he won the Cy Young!
3 - Adam Hoff
Patterson is certainly legit, but I think the lack of run support will continue to plague him this year. The Nationals just don't hit at all. Maybe if Guillen rakes and Soriano has a big year, the nats could give Patterson enough to win 18 games (absolute minimum he would need to contend for the Cy Young). I doubt it though. I think Oswalt is looking good for his first Cy, but don't count out a Jason Schmidt comeback, or even someone like Ben Sheets. Jake Peavy warrants mention as well, but he's kind of in the same boat as Patterson - the Dads just don't hit at all.