FanPost

Joe Mays and the 2001 Cy Young Award

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Those who aren’t familiar with the early 2000’s Twins probably have no idea who Joe Mays is. Mays was a 6th round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners in 1994. He was eventually traded to the Twins as a PTBNL (player to be named later) to complete an earlier trade between the clubs, before making his debut in 1999 at the age of 23.

His career was fairly lackluster. Mays holds a career record of 48-70 with an ERA of 5.05 and a career war of just 9.4, but his 2001 season was nothing short of magical.

I’ll admit, I don’t remember much from that time. I was only 5 years old during the 2001 season, but Mays’ stats from that year are eye popping.

At the All-Star break, Mays had 11 wins, a 3.02 ERA, and was selected to his first and only All-Star team along with fellow Twins Cristian Guzmán and Eric Milton.

Mays’ stats dipped a bit in the later half of the season, but he was able to finish as the best Twins player during Tom Kelly’s last year at the helm. Mays led the Twins with a WAR of 6.6, just ahead of Corey Koskie’s 6.3.

Based off his 17 wins and 3.16 ERA, you would think he would be in the conversation for the Cy Young Award. The BBWAA disagreed. Mays received 0 votes as Roger Clemens took home his 6th Cy Young Award.

The final Cy Young Award standings were:

Roger Clemens – NYY: 122 points, 20-3, 3.51 ERA

Mark Mulder – OAK: 60 points, 21-8, 3.45 ERA

Freddy Garcia – SEA: 55 points, 18-6, 3.05 ERA

Jamie Moyer – SEA: 12 points, 20-6, 3.43 ERA

Mike Mussina – NYY: 2 points, 17-11, 3.15 ERA

Tim Hudson – OAK: 1 point, 18-9, 3.37 ERA

Before sabermetrics really proliferated to the public, the win-loss column was much more important. Mays went just 17-13.

Digging deeper into the stats highlights Mays’ effectiveness. Mays was 4th in WAR for all pitchers and second in the AL (Randy Johnson - ARI, Curt Schilling - ARI, and Mike Mussina – NYY, made up the top three).

Mays finished first in the AL in ERA+, which is an ERA number that is adjusted for the ballpark and opponent. Mays also led the AL in RE24. For pitchers, this is a measure of how many runs a pitcher saved based on the baserunner and outs situation. Mays had a 41.5, Mussina had a 39.5, and Clemens finished with a 26.7.

Mays particularly stood out in clutch situations. With RISP, Mays held opponents to a .205 AVG and .256 OBP. He also faced 7 batters with the bases loaded. He struck out 4 of those hitters and allowed 0 runs.

Despite this, it wasn’t just sunshine and rainbows for Mays. He recorded the 8th best ERA (3.16) in all of baseball, but he was just 41st in FIP (4.27). That’s a difference of 1.11, suggesting that the Twins’ elite defense was partially responsible for Mays’ glittering ERA. The difference is also related to Mays’ pitching style. He didn’t strike out many people, and he wasn’t exceptional at limiting walks or homers. Opposing batters just hit it at the Twins’ fielders. For comparison, Mussina led the AL with a FIP of 2.92 and Clemens had a 3.29.

In my opinion, Mike Mussina should have won the award and Joe Mays should have received more votes than Clemens.

After that magical season, Mays struggled, hard. He went on to earn a 6.15 ERA and a 5.28 FIP during his final 92 games. In 2006, he spent time with the Royals and the Reds in the majors, before playing his last games with the Dodger’s AAA club in 2007.

He was just 30 years old in his last MLB appearance. Baseball is a fickle beast.