The guy who was pitching in Triple-A when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in July 2013 beat two of the game’s best pitchers, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, to win the award.
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Keuchel received 22 first-place votes (186 points), becoming the third Houston player to win the Cy Young, joining Roger Clemens (2004) and Mike Scott (1986).
Jake Arrieta was the face of the Chicago Cubs’ return to the playoffs as the most dominant pitcher in baseball, so it was little surprise on Wednesday night when he was named the 2015 National League Cy Young victor.
For Kershaw, who has received at least two first-place votes in five straight seasons and 91 total during that span. received 101 total points, giving him a 48-percent award share (since there are 210 points possible, if one were to receive all first-place votes).
However, Arrieta ended the season 12-1 with an ERA of 0.75 in his final 15 starts. He struck out 301, most in the majors since 2002, and went 16-7 with a 2.13 ERA for the NL West champions.
The Houston Astros already had Carlos Correa win the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2015, their manager A.J.
He finished the season as the only 20-game victor in the American League, going 20-8 and helping the Astros reach the postseason for the first time since 2005. He started living up to his promise the following season, when he went 10-5 with a 2.53 ERA, and broke through as one of the majors’ top pitchers this year, relying on a slider-cutter combination that consistently baffled hitters.
Arrieta was the first Cubs pitcher to win the honor since Greg Maddux in 1992. Perhaps Arrieta was well served by the All-Star break, because he was snubbed from the NL roster – three months before the honor of NL Cy Young. Gray got 24 third-place votes with Price getting one, leaving Chris Sale of the White Sox the remaining three third-place votes.
In early October, Cubs president Theo Epstein was told by a reporter that Jake Arrieta carried himself like he was the best pitcher in baseball.
In 33 starts he had a record of 22-6 with a whisper thin 1.77 ERA. He started for the Astros on Opening Day and also started the All-Star game in Cincinnati for the AL. Greinke also had the lowest WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) at 0.844, a Dodgers’ record. No other franchise has won more than seven Cy Young awards.
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Toronto Blue Jays left-hander David Price was a distant second in the AL with eight first-place votes and 143 points. He finished third in the voting.
