The Worst Cy Young Winner Ever

The worst CY Young winner ever is not Rick Porcello. In fact the worst Cy Young winner isn’t even a starter. The worst Cy Young winner ever wasn’t even the most valuable reliever that season. So, who is the worst Cy Young winner ever? The worst Cy Young winner was Steve Bedrosian in 1987.

Steve Bedrosian was entering his 6th year of his career, and his 2nd after being traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies. The season previous he had put up a 3.39 ERA through 90.1 innings with 29 saves. Which is a great example of his career up to this point, solid just like his nickname Bedrock. But in 1987 was his breakout year, he led the league in saves with 40 and he had a 2.83 era through 89 innings of work. He would make his first All-Star Game and only All-Star Game and of course his only Cy Young. But, why is he the worst Cy Young winner?
Well one aspect is that the fact that he was a relieving pitcher. I personally don’t think relievers should win Cy Young but that is not the problem. The problem is that all the other relievers to win Cy Young had sub 2.5 ERA seasons, meanwhile Bedrosian put up a 2.83, the worst out of any of the relievers to win Cy Young. He also might not have even been the best relieving pitcher in that year. That year Cubs closer and Hall of Famer, Lee Smith had a higher ERA at 3.12 but he was more valuable in WAR and he had only 4 less saves with the same amount of opportunities.
Now, let’s look at the other Cy Young candidates in the awards closest vote. Only 2 points behind Bedrosian in Cy Young voting was Cubs starter Rick Sutcliffe who led the league in wins with 18, (remember this a time when wins mattered), but he had a high ERA with a 3.68. 3rd was Rick Reuschel who was traded between the Pirates and Giants in 1987. He had a 3.09 ERA while leading the league in complete games, shutouts, and WHIP. This was his second time finishing 3rd in Cy Young. 4th in Cy Young was Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who would win Cy Young the next season. But, in 1987 he would have a 3.06 ERA while leading the league in innings pitched with 264.2.
5th in Cy Young was former Triple Crown Winner, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets. That year 3.21 ERA through 179 innings. Out of these top 5 the most deserving seems to be Rick Reuschel. But he wasn’t even the most deserving winner. You might have noticed how nobody in the top 5 led the league in ERA. The man who did, has had multiple Cy Young awards stolen from him. Of course that man is Nolan Ryan who in 1987 for the Astros had 2.76 ERA, which led the league. He also led the league in strikeouts and in ERA+. Now looking at this this was of course a time where Cy Young voting was broken, where pitcher wins were more valuable than most other statistics.
So, why did Steve Bedrosian win the Cy Young in 1987? Well, the writers believed that because he had 40 saves, and the Phillies had 80 wins. That Bedrosian was partly responsible for half of the Phillies victories that season. He also became the fastest in history to reach 30 saves in a season, accomplishing this feat on July 31st. Yet, still he doesn’t see deserving enough of the award.
AFTER ‘87
Steve Bedrosian wouldn’t pitch until May of 1988 after walking pneumonia put him on the injured list to start the year. This was a sign of things to come for Bedrosian that year, only putting up 28 saves with a 3.75 ERA in 74 innings. In September of that year he would break the career save record for the Phillies with his 95th with the team, passing Tug McGraw. Despite this, in December the Phillies traded for Expos reliever Jeff Parret, who had a 2.65 ERA through 91 innings in ‘88. Because of this trade, many though Bedrosian was going to be traded, with Bedrosian complaining about his lack of opportunities the previous season. But, despite all of this Bedrosian would stay on the team in 1988. But ‘88 would be even worse. After allowing 4 runs in two innings in June, he would be traded to the San Francisco Giants. He would end the season with a 2.87 ERA through 84 innings with 23 saves. The next two seasons he would spend with San Francisco and Minnesota putting up above 4 ERA’s in both. Eventually he was forced into retirement due health issues, and a now 80 MPH fast ball. He would actually return to his original team the Atlanta Braves in 1993, but he would never be able to capture the same fire he had during his 1987 season. His career would end in 1995.
CONCLUSION
This video is not meant to be a knock at Steve Bedrosian. Steve Bedrosian was a solid closer, and one of the best in Philadelphia Phillies history, leading my favorite time in career saves until Jose Mesa passed him in 2003. Instead this video is meant to be a knock to Cy Young voters of the past, and how the system was broken. So, next time somebody brings up Rick Porcello’s Cy Young, tell them about Steve Bedrosian