San Diego Padres: A look back at Jake Peavy’s Cy Young season

The 2007 NL Cy Young award came down to a battle between Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb with the San Diego Padres’ ace prevailing.

Drafted in the 15th round of the 1999 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres, Jake Peavy‘s magical 2007 season was almost a decade in the making. He flirted with Cy Young consideration in 2004, posted an NL-leading 2.27 ERA in 27 starts. He followed that with a 2.88 ERA in 2005, earning his first All-Star selection in the process.

Peavy had a down year in 2006, posting a 4.09 ERA in 32 starts with a Padres team that was on the cusp of being very competitive. The following season, he started the month of April going 3-1 in six starts while tossing at least 5.1 innings in every start and struck out 46 batters in 39.1 innings.

His final two starts in April were indicative of the season he was about to have, striking out 26 batters in 14.0 innings. In May, Peavy won all five of his starts, allowing just three runs in 34.0 innings and was named NL pitcher of the month.

He continued that trend of dominance, despite losing three out of four starts in July. Peavy was named the All-Star game starter for the National League team, tossing an inning and allowed just one hit.

Peavy was a repeat NL pitcher of the month in August and September, posting a combined 9-4 record with 96 strikeouts in 84.4 innings. He led MLB with 19 wins on the year and the NL with a 2.54 ERA as well as 240 strikeouts.

His primary competition came from within the division, Diamondbacks’ ace Brandon Webb, who posted a 3.01 ERA in 34 starts. Webb had 46 fewer strikeouts than Peavy, despite pitching 13 more innings. Both had similar home runs and walks allowed, but Webb allowed 40 more hits and 24 more earned runs on the year.

Peavy led the Padres to an 89-74 record, including a one-game Wild Card tie-breaker with the Colorado Rockies. He tossed 6.1 innings, allowing six earned runs and two home runs in that game. I’ll omit the ending, as I know that’s still a controversial topic. Happy Easter.