With less than a month to go in the 2007 season, AL strikeout leader Erik Bedard may be shut down for the season with a strained muscle near his right rib cage.

This is a sad story. I was really hoping Bedard would put together a few more quality starts to solidify his case for AL Cy Young. When I broke down the candidates for the award two weeks ago, Bedard was my “true” pick, with Red Sox starter Josh Beckett being the probable popular pick.

Bedard was 13-5 on the 2007 season, which doesn’t showcase how spectacular he truly was. He sported a 3.16 ERA with with 221 strikeouts and only 57 walks. Despite not pitching since August 26, Bedard’s strikeout total is still the highest in the AL (Scott Kazmir and Johan Santana are still about two good starts from catching him).

The 13 wins won’t be enough to net him the award, and Santana has been trying to give the award to someone else.

Beckett looks like the front runner now

Just, out.