Scherzer wins NL Cy Young Award
Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer was named the National League Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, beating out teammate Stephen Strasburg and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Scherzer is just the 10th pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards, and the fifth NL pitcher to receive the award in consecutive seasons.
| Pitcher | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Scherzer | 27 | 3 | - | 201 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 3 | 25 | 1 | 126 |
| Stephen Strasburg | - | 1 | 23 | 81 |
The nearly unanimous win follows a season in which Scherzer went 16-6 while notching career bests in ERA (2.51), WHIP (0.90), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.02). A model of durability, he also reached the 200-inning plateau for the fifth straight season.
The 33-year-old Scherzer is one of only six pitchers to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues. He joins Hall of Fame left-hander Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to win multiple NL Cy Youngs in addition to at least one in the AL.
Strasburg made a strong case for himself with a superhuman second half. In 10 starts after the All-Star break, he went 6-1 with an incredible 0.86 ERA while striking out 76 batters in 62 2/3 innings.
Kershaw's been a finalist for the trophy on six occasions, and finished in the top five in voting in each of the last seven seasons. The three-time winner went 18-4 with a 2.31 ERA and 0.95 WHIP across 27 starts.