Receiving 25 first-place votes, Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer was named 2016 National League Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday. He took home three second-place votes, one third-place vote, and fourth-place vote, totaling 192 points.
Scherzer is the sixth pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. This year he finished well ahead of second-place finisher Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs (102 points) and Lester’s teammate, Kyle Hendricks (85 points).
Scherzer was one of three pitchers to win at least 20 games this season. He led the Majors with 284 strikeouts, tied for the NL lead with 34 starts, and led the NL with 228.1 innings pitched. Scherzer went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw’s streak of five straight finishes in the top three in voting for the Cy Young Award was snapped at an MLB-record five years.
However, Kershaw received two first-place votes, courtesy Dave Cameron of FanGraphs and J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. The total matched the same amount Hendricks received.
With that, Kershaw became the first pitcher in MLB history to receive at least one first-place vote for the Cy Young in six consecutive years.
Other than the three finalists, Kershaw was the only pitcher to garner such a vote this year. He finished fifth overall, behind San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner.
The 2016 season was unlike any other for Kershaw, as was forced to the disabled list for only the second time in his career. The 28-year-old went 1-2 with a 1.29 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched across five starts during the final month of the regular season after returning from a mild disc herniation.
Overall in 2016, Kershaw was 12-4 with a 1.69 ERA, 230 ERA+, 1.80 FIP, 0.73 WHIP, three complete games and averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
He won the Cy Young in 2011, 2013 and 2014, finished second to R.A. Dickey in 2012, and third behind winner Jake Arrieta, and Zack Greinke.
