The Britton debate and tonight's game

As the division races continue to heat up, so do the debates over the postseason awards.

The latter seems a bit premature, but I guess there's no time like the present.

Should a reliever win the Cy Young Award? More to the point, should closer Zach Britton be considered for it, let alone be the recipient in the American League?

You probably can guess where manager Buck Showalter stands on the topic.

"That's a short conversation. Of course he should be," Showalter said during his latest "Buck Blog" video on MASNsports.com.

"I also think pitchers should be considered for MVP. Try winning without them, you know?

"I think when people scratch their head about our club, which I've heard they do, the thing they miss is how lockdown Zach has been. The guy has five or six saves he doesn't get. I don't say 'blown' because that means you had something before, which, you have to earn it. Zach earns it every night, and it's been such a great morale (boost) for us for Zach to be there at the end of the game. And some other guys.

"Try doing this without him. And I have. He's special and he's having a special, special year and it's fun to watch. And if he doesn't win it or isn't considered for it, then they're not watching."

Britton is a perfect 37-for-37 in save chances this season. He's posted a 0.54 ERA and 0.815 WHIP in his 50 1/3 innings. He's also the active leader in consecutive saves at 39, dating back to Oct. 1, 2015.

The historical slant also fuels the pro-Cy Young argument. No other left-hander has put together a converted-saves streak of this length to start a season, and he ranks fifth all-time.

Britton hasn't surrendered an earned run since April, the other three scored unearned on June 21 against the Padres. He owns the major league record with 42 consecutive relief appearances without an earned run, dating back to May 5. He passed Craig Kimbrel (2011) and Brett Cecil (2015-16), who each had 38 in a row.

Britton's 40 1/3 consecutive innings without an earned run is the longest streak since Brad Ziegler began his major league career with 39 in a row in 2008 while pitching for the Athletics.

Only nine relievers have won the Cy Young, including four in the American League. The Dodgers' Eric Gagne was the last recipient in the majors in 2003.

Do I think it's going to happen? It would be nice to know how the rest of the season is going to play out. A few blown saves, an ERA that climbs and Britton is out of the running. He keeps trending in his present direction and he's got a shot.

It also would be nice to know which BBWAA members are voting for AL Cy Young. If a significant number don't believe in relievers winning the award, Britton can forget about it.

I'm not opposed to it, but I also know that the Blue Jays' J.A. Happ is 17-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 150 1/3 innings, the Rangers' Cole Hamels is 13-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 160 2/3 innings, the White Sox's Jose Quintana is 10-9 with a 2.84 ERA in 164 2/3 innings, the Blue Jays' Aaron Sanchez is 12-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 156 1/3 innings, the Royals' Danny Duffy is 11-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 120 2/3 innings, the White Sox's Chris Sale is 15-6 with a 3.15 ERA in 168 2/3 innings, the Red Sox's Rick Porcello is 17-3 with a 3.22 ERA in 165 innings.

And that's just scanning the starter surface.

Important note: My palms don't get sweaty over won-loss records. Largely meaningless with so much out of the pitcher's control. Happ is having a tremendous season, but let's get that ERA under 3. He's real close. You too, Mr. Sale and Mr. Porcello.

Anyway, let's throw it to Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who expressed his opinion to reporters during the four-game series against the Orioles.

"The Cy Young by definition is the best pitcher in the league," he said. "Historically, we've always ... the bulk of innings has superseded the reliever impact. But I guess it depends on the rest of the league. If there's not a worthy candidate out of the rotation, then I don't see a huge problem with a dominant reliever leading the way.

"They do have their own award. It's not as sexy as the Cy Young Award. To me, if it was close as a tie, I would probably lean toward the starter, but I don't think we should just automatically eliminate names based on their (jobs)."

Segue alert: Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg is a candidate in the National League after going 15-4 with a 3.59 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 23 starts over 145 1/3 innings. He's averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. But he's 3-4 with a 6.28 ERA and 1.371 WHIP in seven second-half starts after going 12-0 with a 2.62 ERA and 1.013 WHIP in 16 starts before the break.

In his most recent outing, Strasburg lasted only 1 2/3 innings against the Rockies and surrendered nine runs and nine hits. He also walked three batters and watched his ERA rise from 3.07 to 3.59.

This will be Strasburg's first game at Camden Yards. He's 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Orioles in D.C., allowing three earned runs (five total), walking one batter and striking out 17 in 12 innings.

The current group is 6-for-40 against him. Manny Machado is 3-for-3 with a double, Mark Trumbo is 1-for-6 with a home run and three strikeouts, Pedro Alvarez is 1-for-11 with seven strikeouts, J.J. Hardy 0-for-6 with three strikeouts and Adam Jones is 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

Dylan Bundy also disappointed in his last outing, though not at Strasburg's level. He allowed five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Red Sox and his ERA rose from 2.93 to 3.36.

Bundy's never faced the Nationals or any of their hitters.