Despite two sub-par outings in the American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees, the case was clearly made for Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, who Wednesday night was named the 2017 American League Cy Young award winner, beating out Red Sox ace Chris Sale and the Yankees’ Luis Severino for the award.
The award was a runaway for Kluber who earned 28 first place votes, while Sale earned two. A full voting breakdown can be viewed via the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Kluber is the first ever Indians pitcher to win the award twice, having won it back in 2014 when he came out of nowhere to take home the award. He is the 19th pitcher in MLB history to own more than one Cy Young.
Gaylord Perry (1972), CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (2008) are the other three Indians in team history to win the award.
This year Kluber was as good as any pitcher in baseball for the Indians, who ended the regular season with the top record in the American League.
The ace was 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA, the lowest ERA of any starer in baseball, ahead of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw’s 2.31 mark. He was also tied for the AL lead in wins (18) and complete games (5), and simply dominated, striking out 10 or more batters in 11 of 13 outings from June 1 to August 8.
Kluber really came on and won the award in the second half of the season, as he went 11-1 after the All-Star break with a 1.79 ERA, which was a full run lower than his first-half ERA. Following a four-week stint on the disabled list in May, Kluber went 15-2 over his final 23 starts with a 1.62 ERA.
How good Kluber was made what happened in the postseason even more stunning, as in two outings against the Yankees he was roughed up for nine earned runs in 6.1 innings, allowing 12 hits and he ended the hard to swallow five game set with a 12.79 ERA.
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