Cy Youngs never old
Nationals’ ace righthander becomes 10th 3-time honoree
Max Scherzer becomes a threetime winner and two-time NL honoree, while Corey Kluber takes his second AL award.
Max Scherzer heard his name and thrust his arms in the air, shouting and smiling big before turning to kiss his wife.
Corey Kluber gulped once and blinked.
Two aces, two different styles — and now another Cy Young Award for each.
The animated Scherzer of the Washington Nationals coasted to his third Cy Young, winning Wednesday for the second straight year in the National League. He breezed past Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, drawing 27 of the 30first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Kluber’s win was an even bigger runaway. The Cleveland Indians ace took 28 first-place votes, easily outpacing Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox for his second American League Cy Young. Verlander fifth
Justin Verlander, who spent most of the 2017 season with the Detroit Tigers before finishing it with an epic stretch for the Astros, placed fifth in the AL.
Scherzer yelled “yes!” when his award was announced on ML B Network, a reaction in keeping with his reputation. He showed that intensity often this year, whether cursing under his breath like a madman during his delivery or demanding — also with expletives — that manager Dusty Baker leave him in a game.
Just a little different than the pitcher they call “Klubot.” Kluber was as stoic as ever when announced as the AL winner, showing just a hint of a smile moments later when answering questions. Not that he wasn’t thrilled.
“Winning a second one maybe, for me personally, kind of validates the first one,” Kluber said.
Scherzer’s win moves him into rare company. He’s the 10th pitcher with at least three Cy Youngs, and among the other nine, only Kershaw, Roger Clemens and the late Roy Halladay aren’t in the Hall of Fame— Kershaw and Halladay aren’t yet eligible.
“That’s why I’m drinking a lot of champagne tonight,” Scherzer said.
Scherzer earned the NL honor last year with Washington and the 2013 AL prize with Detroit.
“When you start talking about winning three times,” he said, “I can’t even comprehend it at this point.”
Scherzer was 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA this year. The 33-year-old righty struck out a leagueleading 268 for the NL East champion Nationals and eclipsed 200 innings for the fifth straight season.
Kershaw has won three NL Cy Youngs and was the last pitcher to win back-toback. He was 18-4 with a league-best 2.31 ERA and 202 strikeouts. This is his second runner-up finish. 19 multiple winners
Kluber, whose 2.25 ERA led the majors, missed a month of the season with back pain, but his 18 wins still tied for the most in baseball. He added to the Cy Young he won with the Indians in 2014 and is the 19th pitcher to win multiple times.
Kluber, 31, was especially dominant down the stretch, closing out the season by going 11-1 to help Cleveland win the AL Central. He and Minnesota’s Ervin Santana tied for the major league lead with five complete games — nobody else had more than two.