Verlander, deGrom get 2nd Cy Young Awards
NEW YORK – Justin Verlander has a second AL Cy Young Award – and a clear path paved toward Cooperstown.
Verlander beat out teammate Gerrit Cole in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Wednesday night. Verlander got 17 firstplace votes compared to 13 for Cole, who became a free agent after the season.
Mets ace Jacob deGrom won the NL prize for the second straight year. He received 29 of 30 first-place votes, becoming the 11th pitcher to win Cy Youngs in consecutive years. He and Verlander are the 20th and 21st players to win the award multiple times.
The previous repeat winner was Washington’s Max Scherzer in 2016 and ’17. Scherzer tied with the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu for second in NL voting.
Verlander continued a marvelous second act to his career since a 2017 trade from Detroit to Houston. He led the majors with 21 victories and padded his Hall of Fame resume by getting his 3,000th strikeout in his final start of the regular season. He also reached 300 punchouts in a season for the first time.
Verlander no-hit Toronto on Sept. 1, becoming the sixth pitcher with three no-hitters in a career. He joined a group that includes Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, Sandy Kofax, Bob Feller and Cy Young, along with 1880s pitcher Larry Corcoran.
The 36-year-old Verlander won his first Cy Young in 2011, when he was also named MVP, and has since been a threetime runner-up.
The case between Verlander and Cole was tight. Cole had more strikeouts (326) and a lower ERA (2.50), but Verlander threw 102⁄3 more innings and won more games. They are the first set of teammates to finish 1-2 in AL voting – it’s happened five times in the NL.
Tampa Bay Rays righty Charlie Morton finished third a year after leaving Houston in free agency.
DeGrom is in special company as a repeat NL winner, joining Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Tim
Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw and Scherzer.
The 31-year-old led the NL with 255 strikeouts and posted a 2.43 ERA. His resume was bolstered by his durability – deGrom totaled 204 innings, compared to 1721⁄3 for Scherzer and 1822⁄3 for Ryu.
A year after taking the award despite just 10 victories – fewest ever by a starting pitcher – deGrom earned 11 wins with a Mets team that’s struggled to support him.
Awards week wraps Thursday with the announcement of AL and NL MVPs.