Not In The Cards: Kluber Beats Out Hernandez For Cy Young Honors
Felix Hernandez (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP)/(1090 The Fan) – Despite recording his most-successful season in the big leagues, Felix Hernandez isn’t walking away with another Cy Young award today.
Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber got the honor Wednesday for his excellent season.
Kluber received 17 of 30 first-place votes and 169 points, while King Felix got 13 firsts and 159 points. Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox was third with 78 points.
“I think I’m definitely surprised,” he said.
A 28-year-old right-hander, Kluber went 18-9 to tie for the AL lead in wins. He had a 2.44 ERA in his first full major league season and 269 strikeouts, two behind league leader David Price.
Kluber pitched consecutive 14-strikeout games in September, the first to accomplish the feat since Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2004. He became Cleveland’s fourth Cy Young winner, joining Gaylord Perry (1972), CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (2008).
Hernandez was ready to reel in his second Cy Young after baffling hitters over the course of 34 starts in 2014. He led the American League with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.915 WHIP while yielding a league-low 6.5 hits per nine innings. Felix went 15-6 with 248 strikeouts in his 10th season in the Majors.
In 2010 he took home the honor after finishing the year with a 13-12 record and a 2.27 ERA.
This year, Hernandez posted the 4th-lowest ERA for an AL pitcher in a season of 230.0 or more innings since the advent of the Designated Hitter in 1973. He led the AL in WHIP at 0.915, the lowest by an AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2000 (0.737).
Felix ranked amongst the AL leaders in ERA (1st, 2.14), Opponent Batting Average (1st, .200), Innings (2nd, 236.0), Starts (T1st, 34), Strikeouts (4th, 248), Wins (T8th, 15), Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (5th, 5.39) and Strikeouts per 9.0 IP (5th, 9.46).
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