Last week, LWOS Baseball held a vote for who we thought was deserving of the MVP awards. Those results can be found here. This week, we held a vote for the Cy Young awards. Next week, we’ll do the same for the Rookie of the Year.
Voting was done in the style of the BBWAA Cy Young vote, where each eligible participant submits a top five for each league. Seven points are awarded for a first place vote, four for a second, three for a third, two for a fourth and one for a fifth.
The results of the LWOS Cy Young vote are in, with the NL’s Clayton Kershaw winning unanimously and the AL’s Felix Hernandez coming just one first-place vote shy. Both pitchers are former Cy Young winners enjoying the best seasons of their careers, so their selections are no surprise. Both pitchers fared well in our MVP vote as well, with Kershaw finishing second and King Felix fifth.
In 16 straight starts from May 18th through August 11th, Hernandez pitched at least seven innings and allowed fewer than three runs, delivering a 1.41 ERA with 134 Ks over 121 innings. That is the longest such streak since 1900. Having won the award in 2010, Hernandez has been even better this season, posting a lower ERA (2.14), WHIP (0.92) H/9 (6.6) and BB/9 (1.7), all career bests, and striking out batters at a much higher rate (9.2 K/9 compared to 8.4 in 2010).
Like Hernandez, Kershaw has already won this award (in 2011 and 2013), but is clearly having a better year than either season. Back problems have limited him to just 25 starts this season, but he has been so outrageously dominant in that span that he cannot be ignored. He leads the major leagues in wins (19), ERA (1.70), WHIP (0.83), H/9 (6.1) and K/9 (10.6). He has allowed more than two earned runs just six times, five of which saw him go at least seven innings and allow three runs. He is in the midst of a historic season and, due to Giancarlo Stanton likely being out for the rest of the season, Kershaw could take home his first MVP award.
Hernandez and Kershaw were also the only players named on all seven ballots.
With 46 points, Hernandez stands head-and-shoulders above White Sox lefty Chris Sale (20 points). Sale leads the AL with a 1.99 ERA, 6.4 H/9 and 10.6 K/9 and has been every bit as good as King Felix, albeit having pitched 56 fewer innings. Like Kershaw, Sale missed a month of the season, which will likely be the difference in the final BBWAA vote.
In third, and having received the other first place vote, was A’s lefty Jon Lester (18 points). He was having a career year prior to his trade from Boston to Oakland, and has maintained that success in nine starts since. Just behind him was the Indians Corey Kluber (15 points), who has emerged as a genuine ace this season, posting a 2.45 ERA with 230 Ks in 212.2 innings.
Last year’s winner Max Scherzer finished fifth, with 10 points.
Kershaw’s perfect score of 49 dwarfed second place finisher Johnny Cueto (23 points). Largely the favorite for this award throughout most of the season, Cueto placing second on five ballots is more a result of Kershaw’s brilliance than his own faltering. He owns a 2.15 ERA and 220 Ks in a league-best 222 innings, more than Cy Young worthy numbers.
The Giants Madison Bumgarner finished third with 14 points. With a 2.91 ERA and 208 Ks in 204.1 innings, he is largely repeated the season he had last year. Though his WHIP has stayed mainly stagnant (from 1.03 last year to 1.08 this year), his walk and hit rates have reversed; going from 6.5 and 2.8 per nine to 8.0 and 1.8, respectively.
In fourth, with 11 points, was the Cardinals Adam Wainwright. Through the first three months of the season, Wainwright and Cueto appeared locked in a duel for this award. At the beginning of July, however, Wainwright saw a major spike in walks and a major dip in strikeouts. Through June, he had a 2.01 ERA with 105 Ks against 22 walks, a stellar 4.7 ratio. Since then he has posted a 3.23 ERA with 59 Ks against 25 walks, good for a mediocre 2.4 ratio.
The Nationals Doug Fister finished fifth with seven points.
In the AL, David Price was the only other pitcher to appear on more than one ballot, with one fourth and one fifth place vote. In the NL, Zack Greinke appeared on four ballots and finished just one point behind Doug Fister. While the latter appeared on just two ballots, he had a second and a third place vote, while Greinke had two fourth places and two fifth places. Cole Hamels also appeared on two ballots, with a fourth and a fifth place finish.
Orioles closer Zach Britton was the only reliever to receive a vote. He was placed fifth on one ballot.
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