Look at the year Ryan Dempster is having. # 3 in the league in ERA @ .264 #5 in WHIP @ 1.11 #6 in innings pitched ( due to Z's injury will pass him next start and be atleast #5) :( his 9 -2 record is shabby either!
I know its early and I am a big time Homer, but he is having an amazing year. I say he is atleast in the top 4 with Volquez, Linecum and Sheets.
All-Star team, yes, but he's got a way to go before you talk Cy Youg and here's why. Dempster hasn't thrown 200+ innings since 2002. Add to that the fact that's he'll be competing for the award with some proven guys, like Brandon Webb, Ben Sheets, Johan Santana and Tim Hudson. Obviously I'm pulling for him, but let's talk Cy Young after what he does in September.
If I had to vote for a non-Cubbie, I'd say at the end of the year it will be Brandon Webb. Vazquez is tearing it up, but I think the NL hitters will catch up to him during the summer.
I do not know how the Cy Young does not go Volquez at this moment though.
10-2 110K 45BB in 95IP with a 1.71 ERA .196BAA. Those #'s, while bound to go up, are just shockingly dominant. To put those up playing half your games in that bandbox in Cincy for a losing team makes them even more amazing.