MLB The Show: Corey Kluber's Cy Young Performance Boosted His Ratings

Feature Article

Submitted on: 03/18/2015 by Phil Varckette

Winning the Cy Young award is the most coveted accolade a pitcher could strive for. Clayton Kershaw, the 2014 N.L. winner, sports a 99 as you would expect from the "best." But what about the A.L. Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber? In MLB 14 The Show, Kluber's rating was a 76. His rating this year got a generous bump to a 90. While this is a great rating, you have to ask yourself if the 90 rating is high enough.

There are 10 pitchers rated higher than Corey Kluber in the game this year. Is that really fair to the supposed “best” pitcher in the American League? Sure, you can argue that last year was his break-out year and there isn’t enough history to warrant a higher rating, but should 10 pitchers be rated higher?

A 14-point jump in his overall rating might be one of the biggest ever in the game. Which is great. But when you’re the standard of pitching in the American League according to the Cy Young award voters, wouldn’t you think his overall rating would be higher than a 90? Perhaps I’m being too generous, or even too greedy. Perhaps I’m letting my fandom get in the way of thinking critically about this, but I think his rating should be between a 93-95. This way you are leaving less of a gap between Kluber and his positional counterparts.

Of course when you compare Kluber to Kershaw, Kershaw is the much better pitcher. He will probably go down as one of the best of our generation. Kluber on the other hand is not even a household name (but could become one). He needs to put together another Cy Young award winning year for that to happen.

Is Corey Kluber’s overall rating justified, or should the Cy Young winners rating be higher?

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Member Comments

# 1 Dolenz @ 03/18/15 04:37 PM

Yes, because last year is only 50% of the overall rating.

# 2 nemesis04 @ 03/18/15 04:41 PM

That gif. made it really tough to read the article, yikes.

If SCEA is using 3 years, that first year brings his overall down. Just because he won the Cy Young does not automatically put him at Kershaw status. I think the distance from Kershaw is just about right.

# 3 seanjeezy @ 03/18/15 04:52 PM

He was actually an 86 or something in the initial ratings stream, so if he's a 90 now then I think that's good enough considering the ratings are weighted over 3 seasons. Another good season and he'll be in the upper 90's.

# 4 xCULLO @ 03/18/15 06:06 PM

90 is perfect, but once you break 90 there's no room for error.

# 5 Ghost Of The Year @ 03/18/15 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	...you have to ask yourself if the 90 rating is high enough.

Yeah, it's high enough. Let him prove he's more than a one hit wonder. He can be a 99 next year. Or a 95. Or even back to the mid 70's.
He'll be 29 April 10, so that's the red flag I look to the most. I'd feel better about his long term viability if he was 4 years younger. 2 cent opinion.

# 6 HozAndMoose @ 03/18/15 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Of The Year


	Yeah, it's high enough. Let him prove he's more than a one hit wonder. He can be a 99 next year. Or a 95. Or even back to the mid 70's. He'll be 29 April 10, so that's the red flag I look to the most. I'd feel better about his long term viability if he was 4 years younger. 2 cent opinion.

I agree he is fine. But long term really isnt part of this. Its about what he should be rated right now.

# 7 jsquigg @ 03/18/15 11:27 PM

While winning the Cy Young is a great accomplishment, I'd rather have the entire body of work factor at least somewhat into the rating. We'll see what happens this year, but I didn't see him as the best pitcher in the AL last year.

# 8 CaseIH @ 03/18/15 11:39 PM

I think a 90 is about right to start with. As we have seen before a guy can have a great yr, then fall off a cliff. I don't think barring injury that will happen to Kluber, but you never know, so imo a 90 is good to start out the yr with for him.

# 9 CurlyMurph @ 03/19/15 01:51 AM

I also think 90 sounds just about right. Ratings should be based on measurables, not Cy Young Awards anyways. I don't want other players getting boosts for winning Gold Gloves or, God forbid, being voted an all-star. Those are subjective awards often given to undeserving players. While Cy Young Awards and MVPs rarely, if ever, go to somebody totally undeserving, they are also subjective. Your argument that Kluber is the best pitcher in the American League, as evidenced by his Cy Young win last year, is flawed. Kluber was terrific last year, no doubt. Was he the best pitcher in the American League? Maybe. I think a strong case could be made for Felix Hernandez or Chris Sale (and possibly others?). Even if you believe Kluber was, in fact, the best pitcher in the American League last year (and he certainly has a strong argument), there's no way you can make an argument that he warrants a rating higher than Hernandez based on last year's performances. If he has another season like last year, you'll likely see him in that 92-93 range next year. If he regresses a bit towards the mean, he may sit in that 85-88 range. Either possibility seems plausible to me, therefore a 90 ratings seems just about right.

# 10 cardinalbird5 @ 03/19/15 06:39 AM

Plus we are forgetting the fact overall ratings mean nothing honestly. Id want to look at his k/9, bb/9, h/9, fastball velo n control, curveball break, etc then compare it to someone like Felix or something.

If we want to only go by overall ratings then there is nothing wrong with a 90, but it is hard to criticize the overall rating without seeing the individual attributes.

# 11 Dice @ 03/19/15 09:21 AM

The 90 rating is about right. As good as Kluber was last year, if a manager had a choice between picking Felix Hernandez and Corey Kluber to start a must win game, Hernandez would be everybody's first choice.

# 12 MasonOS95 @ 03/19/15 12:40 PM

who cares? if he plays well in the game does the rating matter?

# 13 Cavicchi @ 03/19/15 01:30 PM

More important than the overall is potential.

# 14 Ruffy @ 03/19/15 01:49 PM

Dude won the Cy Young he should be rated 103 overall bro.

# 15 HozAndMoose @ 03/19/15 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoRapsFan95


	who cares? if he plays well in the game does the rating matter?

Well rating usually ties into that a bit.

# 16 N51_rob @ 03/20/15 01:05 AM

It goes against everything SCEA has said in the past about how they do ratings. Its three years with the last season weighing more than the previous two season, but those numbers counting too. So while I think its "too high" based on past statements, at the end of the day its a video game and I can change it if I want.

# 17 mmorg @ 03/20/15 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsquigg


	While winning the Cy Young is a great accomplishment, I'd rather have the entire body of work factor at least somewhat into the rating. We'll see what happens this year, but I didn't see him as the best pitcher in the AL last year.

He along with Felix Hernandez were by far the best 2 pitchers in the AL last year and Kluber edged out Hernandez in a number of statistical categories.

# 18 soxnut1018 @ 03/20/15 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmorg


	He along with Felix Hernandez were by far the best 2 pitchers in the AL last year and Kluber edged out Hernandez in a number of statistical categories.

Chris Sale was equal or better than the two of them in everything except for IP. So the "by far the best 2 pitchers" is a bit much.

# 19 HozAndMoose @ 03/20/15 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxnut1018


	Chris Sale was equal or better than the two of them in everything except for IP. So the "by far the best 2 pitchers" is a bit much.

Higher ERA than Hernandez, higher HR/9 than both, higher BB/9 than both, higher FIP than both and a lower WAR. But the WAR is because of less starts so thats not really fair.

# 20 mmorg @ 03/20/15 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxnut1018


	Chris Sale was equal or better than the two of them in everything except for IP. So the "by far the best 2 pitchers" is a bit much.

Sale also missed a whole month - month and a half. You can't miss that much time and be considered for a CY Young/MVP Award unless you have astronomical numbers.

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