In a development that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara have won their respective leagues' Cy Young award.
Both pitchers got off to hot starts and never looked back, running away with the honors after posting simply dominant campaigns. Both won unanimously, with each getting all 30 first-place votes in their league.
Verlander went 18-4 this season with a 1.75 ERA for the World Series-champion Astros. His win-loss record, ERA and WHIP (0.829) all led the league. Making the accomplishment all the more impressive is it comes after he missed the entirety of the 2021 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.
Now, the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer enters free agency with his third career Cy Young in tow. After the deal Max Scherzer got last offseason despite being 37-years-old, Verlander, who turns 40 in February, is positioned to do well for himself in free agency.
Alcantara was one of few bright spots for a Marlins team that finished 24 games under .500. The 27-year-old takes home his first Cy Young after posting a 14-9 record with a 2.28 ERA. He was a horse all season long, going the distance in a whopping six games, pitching one complete game shutout. His 228.2 innings pitched and 886 batters faced were a league high.
Dylan Cease finished second in the American League, with Alek Manoah behind him, while Max Fried and Julio Urias finished second and third, respectively, in the National League. Full voting results can be viewed here.
While those four all had solid, career years, Alcantara and Verlander were so dominant that it would have taken a Herculean effort for them to get beat.
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