Dempster as First Half MVP?

by Gunga La Gunga on Jun 22, 2008 11:33 PM CDT Comment 12 comments

Fine, his BABIP is somewhere in the Jacques Cousteau territory, but the guy is still 9-2 with a sub 3.0 ERA. No one has been a bigger surprise -- Wood perhaps -- and while we're getting great seasons from many, many players, is anyone else more surpassing expectations than Demp?

Others have had hotter spurts, both pitchers and batters, but Ryan's been a constant from April through May and now June. It wouldn't surprise me that he fades into oblivion in the second half, but for now, argue who's been more valueable to the team?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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i'll say yes when he wins 1 or 2 away from Wrigley

by Petrie000 on Jun 22, 2008 11:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah!

lets base his road pitching on his win/loss record!

by ecbc on Jun 23, 2008 12:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

yeah, because his road ERA isn’t 3.00 (wait, it is!)

+1 ecbc

by serbianking33 on Jun 23, 2008 1:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

he has two losses on the road

one of which he gave up 0 runs.

"Hey.....Cubs win!!!" ---Harry
"Swung on belted!!!"---Chip

by Hammer on Jun 23, 2008 9:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't disagree too much..

But you could make a good argument for almost every starter on the team.

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." - Jacque Barzun

by Bump Bailey on Jun 22, 2008 11:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I won't go as far as MVP

But he wins the prize for biggest suprise of the first half hands down.

"We have a pretty strong belief that we are going to win those types of games. It's our confidence. "--Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly

by Madison Cub Fan on Jun 23, 2008 12:08 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Dempster

is without a doubt this teams MVP so far. The guy is 9-2 with a 2.63 era, he’s been just awesome. Even when he doesn’t have that good of a start he only gives up 3 runs in 5 innings or 4 runs in 6 innings. Those starts are pretty subpar, but none of them are awful and it gives us a chance to win still.

by cubsfan25 on Jun 23, 2008 12:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Who knows...

...if he will continue at this pace. (Ok, he won’t)

But Al made a good point… if this team wants to win, all it needs to do is get a quality start (6 innings, 3 runs) and score 5 runs. And I think Demp can do that from here on out.

It’ll be nice to see Demp in Yankee Stadium this July.

by serbianking33 on Jun 23, 2008 1:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Dempster

is a lock for the Allstar team IMO. The month of June is just about over, Dempster has one more start left this month and is 9-2 with a 2.63 era. How could the guy not be a Allstar? He would have to suck really really bad in his next few starts, not to make the team. Which seems unlikely since Dempster hasn’t sucked in one start this year.

by cubsfan25 on Jun 23, 2008 2:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Oddity: his home ERA is 2.71, his road ERA 2.48.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jun 23, 2008 4:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right

It’s not that he doesn’t pitch well on the road. It’s that for whatever reason, the Cubs aren’t as prone to offensive outbursts on the road.

I am extremely pleased with Ryan so far this season.

"I'm not giving him a high-five ever again." - Sammy Sosa, joking about Moises Alou's personal habits

by MorePiePlease on Jun 23, 2008 7:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's hard to name a guy who only plays...

...once every five days or so the MVP. Nonetheless, Demp has been phenomenal and, assuming he can make it to the All-Star break in relatively good shape, deserves some kinda first-half kudos.

I’m a little bummed he won’t get to pitch to Kevin Millar this week, though. That surely would’ve been one of the more amusing scenes of the season.

Nanika Ga Okoru!

by dat cubfan daver on Jun 23, 2008 12:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs