DeGrom, Verlander clinch Cy Young honors

JACOB deGrom wins his second straight Cy Young Award. AFP

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom picked up the Cy Young Award for a second straight year while Justin Verlander was named the American League’s winner for a second time.

DeGrom was handed the pitching prize after a season, which saw him finish with a 1.89 earned run average from his final 23 starts covering 152 innings.

The Mets star also led the National League with 255 strikeouts and joins an elite band of back-to-back Cy Young winners that includes the likes of Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.

DeGrom was a landslide winner in a ballot tallied by the Baseball Writers of America with 29 of 30 voters choosing the 31-year-old as the best pitcher for a tally of 207 points.

The Los Angeles Dodgers Ryu Hyun-Jin was second in the voting, tied with the Washington Nationals’ Scherzer.

Another star of the Nationals’ World Series triumph, Stephen Strasburg, was tied for fourth with St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty.

Voting for the awards took place before the start of the postseason so did not take into account the Nationals’ sensational playoff run which culminated with victory over the Houston Astros in the World Series last month.

In the American league voting, the Astros’ Verlander pipped teammate Gerrit Cole to claim the second Cy Young of his career. Verlander also won the award with the Detroit Tigers in 2011.

The 36-year-old went 21-6 in 2019 to go with a 2.58 ERA. Voting for the American League winner was tighter however, with 17 voters picking Verlander as winner against 13 for Gerrit Cole.