NY Mets history: Cy Young disrespect for the often neglected Jon Matlack

If Jerry Koosman is underappreciated, what is Jon Matlack? The third of the great New York Mets pitchers in the 1970s, each played in the shadow of Tom Seaver who, in his own way, should be more highly representative of all-time greatness than he really is. Mets fans love him. A near unanimous Hall of Fame selection confirms we’re not alone. And yet it doesn’t quite feel like Seaver gets the accolades he fully deserves as an all-time top pitcher in the game.

A part of it might be the Cy Young snubs. Seaver won three and should have had at least four. The 1974 season was a unique one for Mets pitchers. In a rare instance throughout the early part of the decade, not a single one of their pitchers earned any Cy Young consideration whatsoever.

It’s not unusual except Jon Matlack led all pitches with a 9.1 WAR.

Jon Matlack didn’t need to win the Cy Young but he couldn’t get a single vote in 1974?

This was the year when future Mets reliever Mike Marshall would win with some of the most insane numbers imaginable. He pitched in 106 games as a reliever, finishing 83 of them. One of baseball’s most unique players, the oddity of what he was able to do is good enough to tip your cap at.

He’s just one guy, though. Fellow Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Andy Messersmith and Don Sutton who had wonderful seasons of their own finished second and fourth respectively. Sandwiched between them was Phil Niekro whose 7.9 WAR trounced them but all for nothing. WAR wasn’t a statistic known to man back in 1974.

It’s proven with Jack Billingham, worth -0.1 WAR, finished sixth in the Cy Young vote. Yes, he won 19 games but with a 3.94 ERA. Buzz Capra with a league-best 2.28 ERA was way down with only a single Cy Young vote.

Something was amiss with the Cy Young results. No Seaver. No Steve Carlton. Most of all, no bone thrown the way of Matlack who had a 2.41 ERA, league best 7 shutouts, and a 2.42 FIP to justify it all. Oh, FIP wasn’t a thing then either was it? Voters just looked at pitchers' wins and dedicated their vote there above anything else.

Despite his 3.18 career ERA, Matlack only had one season of Cy Young consideration. It came in 1976 when his 17-10 record likely stood out. His ERA was up about a half-run higher. His WAR, not that anyone was counting back then, fell to 4.2. Matlack had a better WAR in each season from 1972-1974 and yet no Cy Young vote.