The Mariners’ Felix Hernandez has been named a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award along with Chicago White Sox left hander Chris Sale and Cleveland Indians right hander Corey Kluber. The winner will be named by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) on MLB Network Nov. 12.
“To be a finalist for the Cy Young Award is great, that’s what we work for every year, to be one of the best,” said Hernandez, who Monday was named winner of the Players Choice Award as the AL’s top pitcher. “This recognition is a testament to the hard work that I put in during the offseason and it is great to be mentioned as one of the best pitchers in the American League.”
Hernandez, 28, has already been named the AL’s Outstanding Pitcher by The Sporting News. He is also a finalist for a Rawlings Gold Glove and has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente and Fred Hutch awards.
Hernandez led the AL with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.915 WHIP while yielding a league-low 6.5 hits per nine innings over 34 starts. He went 15-6 with 248 strikeouts in his 10th season.
Hernandez posted the fourth-lowest ERA for an AL pitcher in a season of 230.0 or more innings since the advent of the sesignated hitter in 1973, behind the Yankees Ron Guidry (1.74 in 1978), Toronto’s Roger Clemens (2.05 in 1997) and Baltimore’s Jim Palmer (2.09 in 1975). His 0.915 WHIP was the lowest by an AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2000 (0.737).
Hernandez ranked among AL leaders in ERA (1st, 2.14), opponent batting average (1st, .200), innings (2nd, 236), starts (T1, 34), strikeouts (4th, 248), wins (T8, 15), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5th, 5.39) and strikeouts per 9.0 IP (5th, 9.46).
Hernandez won the 2010 Cy Young Award when he went 13-12 and led the league in ERA (2.27), starts (34) and innings pitched (249.2).
Randy Johnson (1995) is the only other Mariners pitcher to win the Cy Young.
2 Comments
It’s all but done – Felix is the King and should have his room booked for the award presser. Everyone else is fighting for second place!
Fully confident Felix will get the award. His streak of 16 consecutive starts of at least 7 innings pitched while giving up no more than 2 runs was a dominance not seen since the Big Unit. His final start of the season was nothing short of awesome. Kluber and Scherzer are in the mix but they didn’t dominate hitters like Felix did. They might have been a bit more consistent but not as dominant.