*Photo from Sporting News*
Baseball's pitching kings didn't have much opposition this year. Houston Astros starter Justin Verlander and Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara have been selected as the 2022 AL and NY Cy Young Award winners, according to a Wednesday announcement by the BBWAA.
The win for Verlander marks the 3rd of his career, becoming the 11th pitcher in baseball history to win 3 Cy Young Awards, with 7 of 10 in the Hall of Fame. He also becomes the first to win a Cy Young after not pitching the season prior. His last two full seasons have both resulted in Cy Young wins.
Verlander captured all 30 first place votes to win unanimously. Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox came in second with 14 second place votes and 10 for 3rd place. Toronto Blue Jays hurler Alek Manoah finished in 3rd with 7 second place votes and 13 votes for 3rd. Two way star Shohei Ohtani came in 4th, with other down ballot votes going to Framber Valdez.
After Verlander had missed most of 2020 and all of 2021 thanks to Tommy John Surgery, he came back to lead the AL in wins with 18, ERA with 1.75, WHIP with 0.83, and a 2.20 ERA+. He made 28 starts during the season and helped the Astros win the World Series for the first time since 2017.
On the NL side, Alcantara also won unanimously with all 30 first place votes going to him. Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves got 10 second place votes and 7 votes for 3rd place to come in second overall. Julio Urias picked up 7 second place votes and 9 for 3rd to finish in 3rd overall. Down ballot votes went to Aaron Nola and Zac Gallen.
Alcantara becomes the 15th unanimous winner in the NL and the first since Clayton Kershaw in 2014. He also becomes the first Marlins pitcher to earn the award. Alcantara led the league in innings pitched with 228 2/3 under his belt. He also threw 6 complete games, the most by a pitcher in a single season since Corey Kluber in 2017.
Alcantara also became the 3rd Dominican player to win the Cy Young along with Bartolo Colon and Pedro Martinez. He allowed just 16 home runs in 2022 while striking out 207 hitters, ending the year with a 2.28 ERA, 2.99 FIP, and 0.98 WHIP. The Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers are now the only remaining teams without a Cy Young winner.
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