On Wednesday, both the American League and National League Cy Young winners were announced. Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander captured the third Cy Young award of his astonishing career. Meanwhile, Miami Marlins breakout star Sandy Alcantara won his first Cy Young.
Both pitchers won the Cy Young Award unanimously. The last time that occurred was way back in 1968 when St. Louis Cardinals' Bob Gibson and Detroit Tigers' Denny McLain accomplished the feat, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The American and National League Cy Young winners were each unanimous choices for the first time since 1968, when Bob Gibson and Denny McLain took home the hardware. pic.twitter.com/Q01LusLchZ
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 17, 2022
Verlander's season was truly improbable. He had not pitched in nearly two years after missing the last two seasons due to injury. He is 39 years old and somehow posted one of the best seasons in his future Hall of Fame career. Verlander finished 18-4 with a ridiculous 1.75 ERA and even more ridiculous 0.83 WHIP.
Alongside the Cy Young, Verlander is a shoe-in for the AL Comeback Player of the Year.
The Astros ace would go on to help Houston to their second World Series title. Along the way, Verlander finally won his first World Series game during his illustrious game. He was previously 0-6 entering this season.
Alcantara, on the other hand, is a youngster who busted out this season. He had shown steady improvement over the first five years of his big league career. But he took his game to a new level this season, capturing the first Cy Young Award by a Marlins pitcher in franchise history.
Alcantara ended the season 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP to go with 207 strikeouts. He led the league tossing 228 innings this season and had more complete games, six, than the rest of the major leagues combined.
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