Fan Interference

Both winners garnered theirs second award tonight: Justin Verlander of the Astros (AL) and Jacob deGrom of the Mets (NL).  Verlander won his first in 2012 with the Tigers; deGrom, of course, also won the NL CYA last year.

The AL race was really between two Astros—Verlander and Gerrit Cole.  Both had nearly equally great seasons.  Both had 300+ K’s (Cole led the majors with 326).  Both had ERA’s under 2.60 (Cole led the league at 2-50).  Verlander led the league in innings pitched and had a no hitter.  The third finalist was really a finalist because there has to be three—no offense to Charlie Morton of the Rays—he had a great year, but there was zero chance he was taking home the trophy.

The NL race was more open.  Jacob deGrom certainly had Cy-worthy stats, including leading the league with 255 strikeouts.  His 2.43 ERA was maybe not as eye-popping as last year’s 1.70, but still outstanding.  Max Scherzer of the Nationals and Hyun-Jin Ryu each spent part of the season thought of as the odds on favorite for the award, but both lost some time too.  Of note deGrom is now the second Met with multiple Cy Young Awards…the other is some guy named Tom Seaver.  That’s some pretty heady company.