CC Sabathia knows what it takes to win a Cy Young. He did it all before when he was a member of the Indians in 2007, narrowly edging Boston's Josh Beckett for the honor.
But he doesn't have the goods to bring home the hardware in 2009. He even said so.
"I told Andy [Pettitte] the other day, if I had a vote, I would vote for [Felix] Hernandez" Sabathia told The New York Daily News of the Mariners hurler. "Just watching him pitch the other day in Seattle against us… against this lineup to throw a complete game and get a win. That's the best pitcher in the league to me."
Hernandez limited New York to one run in his complete game last week.
Sabathia currently leads the league with 18 wins and is in the hunt for the first 20-win season of his career. He boasts a 3.31 ERA in 220 1/3 innings. Hernandez is 17-5 with a 2.49 ERA, but Sabathia's primary competition may be Kansas City's Zack Greinke, who leads the league with a 2.08 ERA.
"Greinke's been great, and that's what [Pettitte] said, too," Sabathia told the Daily News. "But we haven't seen him pitch. I saw Felix up close the other day and I was like, 'All right, this guy is unbelievable.' So right now, to me, he has my vote."
But if Sabathia can put forth a statement start against Boston on Saturday — and if he can become the only 20-game winner in the league — then some of those votes may start swinging his way.
