6:28pm: The BBWAA announced a slight correction in the NL voting (Twitter link), revealing that Ryu finished in second place alone — not in a tie with Scherzer, who is alone in third place. Flaherty is now alone in fourth place as well, with Strasburg landing fifth.
5:56pm: Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom and Astros righty Justin Verlander have been named the Cy Young Award winners in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced Wednesday (click for voting breakdowns in the National League and American League).
It’s the second consecutive Cy Young win for deGrom, who has cemented himself among the elite arms of the generation. The 31-year-old deGrom received 29 of a possible 30 first-place votes, with the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu receiving the lone other first-place vote. Ryu, who narrowly topped deGrom for the NL ERA title but tossed 22 fewer innings, finished in a second-place tie with Max Scherzer. Stephen Strasburg and Jack Flaherty, meanwhile, were only slightly behind that pair in a fourth-place tie of their own. Mike Soroka, Sonny Gray, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Kirby Yates and Patrick Corbin all received votes and appeared further down the ballot.
Tossing 200 innings is an increasingly rare feat in today’s era of bullpen dominance, but deGrom delivered his third straight year of 200-plus frames, finishing with 204 innings of 2.43 ERA ball. His 2.67 FIP largely supported that excellent ERA, and deGrom was once again masterful in terms of overall strikeout percentage (31.7 percent) and walk percentage (5.5 percent). The right-hander, to this point, hasn’t given the Mets any reason to second-guess the four-year, $120.5MM contract extension they awarded him prior to the 2019 campaign. That pact ensured that deGrom will be a fixture on the starting staff for years to come, and he’ll join Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman in a formidable top four in 2020 as the Mets look to reload and once again take aim at a postseason berth.
Verlander, 36, narrowly edged out teammate Gerrit Cole but managed to secure his second career Cy Young win. No pitcher outside of Verlander or Cole received a first- or second-place vote, but Verlander’s 17 first-place votes won the day. Rays star Charlie Morton received the bulk of the third-place votes (18) and came in third place on the ballot, while Cleveland’s Shane Bieber received 10 third-place votes and finished fourth in voting. Lance Lynn parlayed his brilliant rebound campaign into a fifth-place finish, while Eduardo Rodriguez, Lucas Giolito and Mike Minor rounded out the ballot (in that order).
Verlander led the Majors with 223 innings pitched and finished second in the game in strikeout percentage (35.4 percent), trailing only Cole (39.9 percent) in that regard. Verlander’s 2.58 ERA was slightly higher than Cole’s 2.50 mark, and his FIP (3.27) was a good margin higher than that of Cole (2.64). But Verlander yielded fewer walks in more innings pitched, started one more game than Cole and finished the year with 21 victories to Cole’s 20. The two were widely expected to crush the rest of the field in a tightly contested race and did just that. Verlander would have been a free agent alongside Cole were it not for the two-year, $66MM extension he signed over the winter. He’ll instead join Zack Greinke atop the Houston rotation for the next couple of seasons as he seeks to add a third trophy to his Cooperstown case.
That No Hitter put Verlander over the top.
Does he win the Cy Young award without it??
The innings are what put JV over the top
0-2 this year. before the final three came out i thought Cole and Strasburg would win Cy
Votes are cast before the postseason starts and JV doesn’t win in the WS because he averages 1.28 runs of support per start in the WS.
@Show Me Your Tatis
“…JV doesn’t win in the WS because he averages 1.28 runs of support per start in the WS.”
Surprising considering they were probably stealing signs. Why would they stop when everything was on the line?
Idk but Verlander getting no run support in the WS is definitely a thing.
So Verlander’s 5.68 World Series ERA isn’t a factor in his inability to win?
@Ry.the.Stunner look at the individual games. He’d have 3 wins in the World Series if the offense had done their part.
How many innings did each of them throw?
With all things being this close, it was the innings.
212 vs. 223 IP? How can that be a compelling difference? The difference in FIP, with Cole at 2.64 and Verlander at 3.27 is far more compelling. It’s really the only material statistical difference. It should be the tiebreaker, with the decision going to Cole.
Also, Cole’s 326 strikeouts over Verlander’s 300, in 11 fewer IP.
I doubt that most voters consider FIP. A lot of voters still put stock in wins ffs
@Show Me Your Tatis
Innings are that big of a difference. Verlander only threw 11 more. However, Cole had a slightly lower ERA and despite throwing those 11 innings fewer he had 26 more Ks and allowed 7 fewer homers. Both had great years but I think Cole should’ve won.
@soithbeachbully if I had it my way Cole would have won. But it really could have gone either way. This isn’t making a mockery of the Cy Young like Rick Porcello winning in 2016. If anything the voters owed Verlander for that.
Well, according to Baseball Reference, he was worth 1 WAR more than Cole, so even without the no hitter, it likely goes to JV.
Yea he wins it without the no hitter
Close races in both leagues, good for both of them!!!
Close races? deGrom got 29 of 30 first place votes.
Laughable Cole didn’t win.
Laughable? I too think Cole deserved it by a thin hair. JV’s whip was 0.80. Cole’s was 0.90. It’s not laughable that Cole didn’t win imho. I can easily see why Verlander edged him out
2.64 vs 3.27 FIPs is disgusting. Roiding Verlander can jump in a lake.
I’m probably an outlier here, but I don’t look at FIP at all for awards. It’s a good predictive tool and obviously very useful for looking forward. For me though, the bottom line numbers are all that matters for the actual value the guy provided with regard to potential awards.
@Strike Four- He did with his trophy while celebrating! 🙂
Yeah I totally agree with you, I’ve never thought fip should be a deciding factor when it comes to awards and such. There’s too many what if’s in my opinion with it and at the end of the day you need to look at the actual era and stats they produced
FIP is for contracts, ERA is for awards.
He has his opinion and felt it was laughable. Let him have his opinion
As some might say, close but clear. You really need to strain to vote for Verlander over Cole for any reason other than that he’s the bigger name who people on other beats were paying more attention to and, in some cases, the writers voted him lower so that he wouldn’t be quite as expensive for the home teams to sign. The 11 inning difference isn’t enough to make up for the dominance elsewhere. I don’t think it’s coincidence that all the Houston and New York voters went with Verlander.
You need to strain? Their numbers are so close that it was basically a toss up. Also you’re not giving these writers any credit, they’re highly selective writers who look at the season stats, not whether a player is going into free agency…
I’m sure kate Upton is happy
Of all his stats, she likes his FIP best.
Degrom was a no Brainer imo little shocked Cole didn’t get it though.
What reason could they have for voting Verlander over Cole?
No Hitter is the only reason I’ve heard. I personally think Cole deserved it. Certainly the more dominant over the last 5 months.
The Houston writers went with Verlander because he was going to be on the team the next year and Cole wasn’t, and went out in ugly fashion. Majorly petty by the Houston writers. The Tigers writers went with Cole. Cole was clearly better.
The votes were cast before that happened, ok genius?
You saw the ballots?
Could it be that the Tigers voters went with Cole because they were being petty? Maybe if there wasn’t an issue with the Detroit writer, they vote for Verlander.
I would have voted Cole, but as an Astros fan that watched every start by both, I could make a case for either. They were both dominant all year.
Wow that’s cool I didn’t know you knew all these writers so well!
Innongs
Probably because it is a regular season award and all voting is done before the playoffs start. At that point it was a toss up but a strong argument could be made for Verlander over Cole. And that is not discounting Cole’s season at all.
Cole went five months without losing, had significantly better FIP. He wins in my book.
Also, Cole’s 326 strikeouts over Verlander’s 300, in 11 fewer IP.
FIP is a flawed stat. The traditional pitching stats make for better evidence to support a voting decision.
My favorite reason to give it to Verlander is WHIP. 0.80 is ape balls insane. Cole’s 0.90 is regular insane. If a player has one stat that is ape balls insane, then that serves as a trump card in the argument.
Also, the angst over Cole not winning is a product of primacy recency. We just saw Cole murder everyone in the playoffs so we forget Verlander’s ape balls insane season and feel emotionally compelled to give the award to Cole and his insane, but not ape balls insane, season.
I suspect at least some voters felt bad for Verlander falling juuust short a couple of times in the past. So much for “2019” CY….
The Nationals beat them both. 🙂
As much as it kills me to agree with you… great points! Congrats!
And?
Reason for ryu not winning : 4 self imploded starts in a row ?
Degrom had like 2 more wins above replacement than Ryu.
I’m obviously very biased, but DeGrom just had the better season.
No, because he pitches in the wrong timezone. Ryu was tops in ERA, ERA+, BB/9, beat deGrom in SO/BB ratio, and had virtually the same WHIP, but still was routed by deGrom 29-1 in first place voting, Ridiculous.
I really disagree on the time zone bit, to have as few innings as Ryu had you have to really be above and beyond better than the other guy and he wasn’t
You got a nose on your face? It’s as plain as that.
Cheer up, lil guy.
Troll much?
Apparently you do.
It didn’t help, that’s for sure. He was the presumptive CY going into August. Take those starts out and his numbers are a whole lot more impressive.
Both Detroit writers went with Cole.
Both Houston writers went with Verlander, because Cole was leaving, and they are petty as all get out.
Houston blows it again. Just give up on baseball in Texas, no one there really cares about baseball anyway, its a football and basketball state. Move the Astros and Rangers to Portland and Montreal!
No one in Texas cares about baseball…WTF are you smoking? I can tell that you have done some significant day drinking.
Compared with football? Its the same with Florida. Both states should have no MLB teams. Those are football states.
Because each state is only allowed to have one professional sport? That would make each and every league pretty terrible.
While Texas is. a football state, they definitely care about baseball. Do you know how many prospects come from Texas?
@stan lee the manly Nope, wrong, all other states are fine, just those two are SUPER into football on a level they NEVER show with baseball.
Imagine really believing this. Yikes!
Imagine believing this. Yikes!
Hahaha yea, Oregon and Canada like baseball more than Texans. What a stupid comment. I mean, this is beyond moronic. Thank you for that laugh. Montreal of all places.
Watch for Houston to take a dip in the standings next year without Cole. That will be an indicator of his value.
Just like they would if Verlander left!
And watch Cole’s numbers go back to pedestrian when he doesn’t have a roster like the Astros around him
It’s worth pointing out Gerit Cole wasn’t the current Gerit Cole before he came to the Astros. His last year in Pittsburgh, dude had a 4.26 ERA. Even if he does leave, which is obviously likely, the Stros are going to find some mid-rotation guy and turn him into an ace, just like they did with Cole and Morton.
Cole is gonna go to a crap team like the Angels for front-end starter pay and go back to putting up mid to back-end starter numbers.
Nip and tuck in the AL. Whiny Verlander might have gotten the nod from sportswriters who 1. know him better, 2. feel like they owed him from the Porcello fiasco.
These are people casting votes and when the data points are so close, things like that matter.
And the Tampabwriters putting Verlander 3rd and 6th in their ballots to throw the tight decision to Blake Snell. JV got jobbed twice, should have 4 Cys
The Tampa voters have some vendetta against Verlander that someone should expose. I assume it has something to do with an off field scandal that was covered up by the MLB because we can’t find anything game related that could’ve drove the wedge. Maybe there is a wife or daughter or illegitimate kid involved in the story?
But J de G only won eleven games!!??
(attack haters!!!!!)
When you have to flip a coin, which in the case of Cole vs Verlander that’s what you do, It’s one more game started and 11 more innings.
As much as I don’t like Verlander, I’d pick Verlander.
5 months without losing, I’d pick Cole. Simply more dominant. I know the postseason doesn’t count, but I think it showed how much more dominant he is.
Get that “5 months without losing” out of here Mo4ever! Wins and losses are team stats. Not pitcher stats.
Regardless, 5 months of sheer, unmatched dominance! Also, they pitched on the same darn team! Wins, like RBIs, are much more comparable when you’re comparing players on the same team over a 162 game season.
Except by Verlander
The .2.64 vs. 3.27 difference in FIP is the most compelling statistical difference between them. Even if you want to ignore 5 months of dominance over opponents, the FIP is the clear tiebreaker.
Also, Cole’s 326 strikeouts over Verlander’s 300, in 11 fewer IP.
No one is ignoring 5 months of dominance over opponents. Except for you ignoring Verlander’s 6 months of dominance over opponents.
2.64 vs 3.27 FIP. Verlander didn’t sniff Cole’s season. Not even close.
That’s one very flawed stat. Look at opponent’s batting average and WHIP. Verlander was all time ape balls insane with those two stats.
There’s that time zone thing again.
Might as well blame the time zone for Kershaw’s choke job while you’re at it. A choke job btw, that many on the east coast didn’t see because the major sports bow to the west coast when picking game times for MNF, MLB playoffs/ Wolrd Series, etc. They think it’s better to have east coasters miss the end of games than west coasters miss the beginnings, which is ironic because in LA the fans don’t even show up for the beginning of games they have tickets for.
Oh man another troll.
You’ve already announced you were one earlier. No need to say it again.
Projection. Let me know when you actually have something to say. It hasn’t happened yet.
Yep, east coast bias absolutely caused Lincecum, Peavy, Webb and Kershaw to not win 7 of the last 14 NL Cys.
Oh wait.
“Ryu, who narrowly topped deGrom for the NL ERA title but tossed 22 fewer innings, finished in a second-place tie with Max Scherzer.”
This is not true (88 points for Ryu, 72 for Scherzer).
Yeesh. I probably would have gone with G. Cole but this isn’t really egregious like Porcello winning in 2016. At least Verlander bested Cole in some important stats like IP and WHIP.
I don’t know, .803 WHIP (Verlander) vs. .895 WHIP (Cole) doesn’t seem like a decision-making difference. Neither does Verlander’s edge of 11 IP (223 vs. 212) over a 162 games season.
Could say the same about the ERA difference. Especially when Verlander did it in more innings.
You’re absolutely right on ERA, but there’s the material difference in FIP (2.64 vs. 3.27) and Cole’s superior dominance in winning. Cole went five months without losing.
I’ll give you FIP but “superior dominance in winning” and “going 5 months without losing” mean absolutely nothing. Wins and losses are team stats. Not player stats. And anyone who even mentions them in the Cy Young discussion needs to be banned from it.
Wins and losses on the same team are not meaningless. I guarantee if you compare the starts of the two over the last five months you will see a much more consistent compelling performance by Cole. And the compelling difference in FIP is the only major difference between them either way. If you insist on ignoring Wins over a 5 month stretch, then the FIP is decision-maker.
Also, Cole’s 326 strikeouts over Verlander’s 300, in 11 fewer IP.
Wins and losses are meaningless as pitcher stats no matter what. Especially when Gerrit Cole averaged a run and a half more of support per start than Verlander (yes he did, go look it up).
No way. Win are important. A pitcher with 20+ wins and superior numbers to go with them mean a lot. Shows he did his job and gave his offense a chance to win the game. 20 plus wins is still impressive.
20 wins mean aren’t impressive at all. All the mean is the pitcher got a lot of run support.
Haha! People are arguing that Cole winning 20 games is a big deal…….while forgetting that Verlander won 21 games.
Also, Verlander had a 7.8 WAR and Cole had a 6.8 WAR.
Wow! That’s crazy.
Ryu did not finish in a tie with Max. 88 points to 72 points for Ryu…..
Yeah — the BBWAA announced a correction. I updated the post.
More surprised that it’s only Verlander’s second Cy Young Award, given the dominance he’s shown throughout his career. (Fun Fact: Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young.) Makes up for him missing out on the one they awarded to Porcello.
Ryan is the guess I get most often to the trick trivia question, “What pitcher who never won a Cy Young award has the most career wins?”
Lol, very clever.
2016 when Porcello won? Verlander, despite being the clear favorite and getting 14 1st place votes got snubbed by two writers who COMPLETELY left him off the ballot.
Two Rangers in the top ten!
Yea!
I know this for sure: if Verlander were available this offseason, I would still want my team to go get Cole instead (age independent). In my book the gap between Cole and Verlander is as large as the gap between Cole and Stras.
I probably would have voted for Cole, but i feel like JV has been robbed of at least one Cy young award in his career, and he certainly isn’t undeserving.
Not sure why but I didn’t really hear that much about deGrom this year. All the other Mets drama must have got in the way because I didn’t realise how good of a year he’d had. Winning it two years in a row is impressive.
I think there were more storylines (good and bad) about the Mets that got attention this season. in 2018, he was pretty much the only noteworthy aspect of a boring, mediocre team.
“…but i feel like JV has been robbed of at least one Cy young award in his career…”
That doesn’t resonate with me. This was about this season, and I think Cole was the more dominant of the two. Verlander had one great game (No Hitter) and a bunch of really strong games. Cole went on a tear for five months. I know the postseason doesn’t count, but in my book it really showed the difference.
We get your opinion.,loud and clean. But it’s not going to change the fact that JV won the award.
The NL winner did not have a complete game or a shut out…….but the runner up did !
And didn’t hit a home run, either.
you’re right, he hit 2 home runs
They should have just given the NL award to Cole. Really sad stats for a cy young winner
There are legitimate arguments in favor of Ryu, but come on.
I’d already made the legitimate arguments. No interest. Flippant always plays better around here.
And even with that, Ryu pitched 22 fewer innings. Cy Youngs are given for season performance, not single game.
I’m surprised innings pitched mattered this year, but it didn’t matter last year with Snell. JV had more than 20 more IP than Snell last year. I can’t remember how many more, but interesting that’s part of the criteria this year.
If JV’s 11 more IP than Cole was the difference-maker, then the decision was a travesty. Cole had a far better FIP (2.64 vs. 3.27). THAT was the only statistic upon which there was a significant difference between the two. And FIP matters.
Well, there is a difference in WAR as well. Verlander 7.8 and Cole 6.8, and WAR matters just as much as FIP.
Snell averaged less than 6 innings per start last year. The Rays set their starters up to have insane rate stats. They know they can let it rip without being expected to go deep in games.
As many times as JV has been robbed of a CY Young, I’m happy to see him get this. Did Cole have a great season, sure, but JV deserves it. If it’s so close, give it to the veteran.
*bangs trash can
Well I guess no one is f’ing justin Verlander anymore
I still don’t agree with a starter who won only 11 games getting the Cy Young Award. I remember when the award went to the starter who won the most games in their league. That’s why it’s named after the pitcher with the most career wins.
I guess the MVP should go to the HR leader?
That’s different.
You’re right. It should be AVG.
That was before advanced stats provided a better picture of a pitcher’s performance.
I think the award was always supposed to go to the best pitcher, but it has become clearer to many that wins are not at all a good way of making that assessment.
And also the emphasis on team independent numbers like ERA and WHIP.
Forgetting to mention he also has the most career losses.
Yeah he does
If de Grom had an average bullpen and average run support,He could have had at least 25 wins
That was before advanced stats provided a clearer picture of a pitcher’s performance.
I think the award was always supposed to go to the best pitcher, but it has become obvious to many that wins are not at all a good way of making that assessment.
Verlander practically begged the cubs to sign him. Way to go Epstein. He’s missed on so much top shelf talent it’s crime.
Verlander hasn’t ever been a free agent. He couldn’t have begged the Cubs to sign him.
When Detroit was looking for trade partners, Verlander suggested the cubs. You would know this if you bothered to stay informed.
People who think pitcher wins matter belong in a cage.
Gee too bad Mr. Boras hat wearing lump of Cole didn’t win.
wonder if this lowers the price tag on Cole (not much, but some)
It would have been Justin’s third if that “Poor”cello guy didn’t win the other year.
“No pitcher outside of Verlander or Cole received a second- or third-place vote, but Verlander’s 17 first-place votes won the day.”
That’s not possible. Must mean first or second.
Gerrit cole had a 4.11 era in his first 11 starts. If he doesn’t have that rough stretch he would’ve edged out Verlander, but I think that mixed with the very low WHIP is why verlander deserved it over Cole
Both Verlander and Cole had great seasons.
But to argue that Cole deserved to win because he had a better FIP is basically saying he should win the Cy Young because he gave up fewer home runs and struck out a few more batters.
Baseball Reference and Fangraphs calculate their WAR for pitchers differently,Fangraphs uses FIP as it’s basis while Baseball Reference uses Runs Allowed as the basis for it’s calculation.
It’s important to know how a stat is derived and it’s actual meaning. if you want to apply it to an argument
Since I think run prevention itself is more important than how you prevent runs,Baseball Reference’s WAR calculation is the one I prefer so Verlanders superior bWAR is the deciding factor. 7.8 to 6..9.
Two great seasons from pitchers on the same team,either one could have won the award and I wouldn’t complain.,but to me at l;east ,Verlander was a tick better.