Can a pitcher with 13 victories win the Cy Young?

I say the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Despite being the owner of just 13 wins, I believe that 24-year-old right-hander Felix Hernandez should be the winner of this year's AL Cy Young Award. Yes, Felix should be King. After beating the Texas Rangers last night, Hernandez has a record of 13-12 and ERA of 2.27. While CC Sabathia is 21-7, 3.18, David Price is 19-6, 2.73 and Clay Buchholz is 17-7, 2.33, my take is that all they have over Hernandez is more wins. Did you know Hernandez has the lowest run support average of all qualifying AL starters? In his 12 losses, the Mariners scored just 14 runs total and only seven while he was in the game. Here are more stats that make the case for Felix Hernandez: *Last night he recorded his 30th quality start, becoming the first pitcher since Randy Johnson in 2002 to do that and just the 7th since 1980. *He is 6-3, 0.96 over his last ten starts and has an ERA of 1.53 since the All-Star break. *He is 1/3 of an inning shy (he has 249 2/3 right now) of becoming just the 10th AL pitcher since 1950 to have an ERA under 2.30, 250 innings and 220 or more strikeouts. *He has pitched at least into the seventh inning of 25 straight starts. *He leads the AL in ERA (2.27), innings (249 2/3) and strikeouts (232). *He has allowed 2 ER or fewer in 25 of his 34 starts. For good measure, he is 1-0, 0.56 in two starts vs. the Orioles in 2010. He's been a standout against the other AL East teams: vs Bos: 1-0, 1.23 ERA in 1 start. vs NYY: 3-0, 0.35 ERA in 3 starts vs Tor: 0-1, 1.13 ERA in 1 start. After finishing second to Zach Greinke last year in the Cy Young voting, this should be the year for Hernandez. If he doesn't make another start on Sunday, or even if he does, this 13-game winner should not lose out on this prestigious award because the Mariners hitters didn't get the job done in many of his starts this year. He got the job done and then some.