Padres: Another Great Outing Puts Dinelson Lamet in Cy Young Conversation

The San Diego Padres already have the frontrunner for the NL MVP award, but they also have someone pushing for the NL Cy Young as well.

When you’re having a season like the San Diego Padres are having you’re bound to have a few guys up for some of the major awards.

I wrote yesterday that the NL MVP award is Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s to lose at this point. You could also say the same about Jake Cronnenworth and the NL Rookie of the Year.

But why not just sweep the postseason awards and take home the Cy Young as well?

After a dominating start against the Colorado Rockies on Monday, Dinelson Lamet has certainly put himself back in the conversation.

The 28-year-old now has a 2.24 ERA in 52.1 innings with 68 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.92.

He’s fourth among all NL starters in WAR at 1.6. And one of the guys ahead of him, Max Fried, just went on the IL and will likely miss at least a couple of starts.

Yu Darvish leads the way with 2.1 WAR, and the other two guys ahead of him — Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer — are on non-competitive teams at this point.

Lamet is fourth in innings pitched, fifth in K%, fourth in WHIP, sixth in ERA, third in strikeouts, and second in average against at just .176.

As you can see, he’s just on the cusp of being in the top three. But right now he’s probably still on the outside looking in.

Lamet probably has three starts left and those will come against the Giants, Mariners, and either the Angels or Giants.

It’s a shame he won’t get a chance to go up against the Los Angeles Dodgers next week as that could have been his signature moment.

But he should have three more chances against mediocre lineups to put up some good numbers and possibly at least finish top three in the Cy Young vote.