Keuchel trumps Price for AL Cy Young
Houston Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel added a Cy Young Award to his increasingly impressive resume Wednesday evening, edging out fellow southpaw David Price, a six-time All-Star, for the honor in the American League.
Keuchel - who also started for the American League in his first ever trip to the Midsummer Classic back in July - received all but eight of the 30 first-place votes to become the first Astros pitcher to win the Cy Young award since Roger Clemens in 2004.
| PLAYER | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Keuchel | 22 | 8 | 186 | |
| David Price | 8 | 21 | 1 | 143 |
| Sonny Gray | 1 | 24 | 82 | |
| Chris Sale | 3 | 30 |
"It's something I definitely never expected," Keuchel said on MLB Network. "Just playing the game was good enough for me. It's something that hasn't sunk in. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you I wasn't nervous about the outcome."
Though Keuchel led the league in both wins (20) and innings pitched (232), Price fared better in a litany of statistical categories, including WAR, ERA, fielding independent pitching, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
| Player | WAR | ERA | FIP | K:BB | HR/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 6.4 | 2.45 | 2.78 | 4.79 | 0.69 |
| Keuchel | 6.1 | 2.48 | 2.91 | 4.24 | 0.66 |
| Gray | 3.8 | 2.73 | 3.45 | 2.86 | 0.74 |
Still, Keuchel limited baserunners (1.02 WHIP) and induced ground balls (61.7 percent) better than every other qualified pitcher in the AL, while the Astros earned a victory in 23 of the game 33 he started.
"This is by no means an individual award," Keuchel. "I had to scratch and claw and to make adjustments. This award goes to (pitching coach) Brent Strom and (bullpen coach) Craig Bjornson, and then there was Doug Brocail, my first pitching coach, and my college head coach and college pitching coach … who I've taken bits and pieces from."