There have been 10 unanimous National League Cy Young Award winners.
Clayton Kershaw could become No. 11 on Wednesday when the Baseball Writers' Association of America continues to hand out its postseason awards, as the top pitchers in both the American and National League are revealed.
Kershaw, who also won this award last year and in 2011, is a heavy favorite to nail down his third NL Cy Young after another dominating season for the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The talented left-hander is also a finalist for an NL MVP Award, which will be handed out on Thursday.
Kershaw was nearly a unanimous winner last season, as he garnered 29 of the 30 first-place votes. This year he should get all 30 after leading the majors with a 21-3 record, an .875 winning percentage, a 1.77 ERA and an 0.86 WHIP.
He was also second in the NL with 239 strikeouts, three behind Johnny Cueto of the Reds and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, in 27 starts.
The highlight of Kershaw's season came on June 18 when he struck out 15 in a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies.
It was the fifth consecutive season that Kershaw tallied 200 or more strikeouts. He also allowed a .197 batting average to right-handed hitters and just .193 to left-handed hitters.
Essentially, it's not a matter of if he will win, it'll be a matter of by how much. And when he does get the honor, he'll join Sandy Koufax (1963, '65, '66) as the only Dodgers pitcher to win the award three times.
He'll also join Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver as three-time NL winners.
Kershaw's main competition figures to come from St. Louis righty Adam Wainwright, who was 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA.
Cueto is the other NL finalist.
While Kershaw figures to be a runaway winner in the NL, it's a little less clear cut in the American League, but Seattle right- hander Felix Hernandez appears to have the inside track on both Cleveland righty Corey Kluber and Chicago left-hander Chris Sale.
It was a historic season for King Felix, as he put forth the best statistical season of his career and a new major-league record with 16 consecutive starts in which he allowed two or fewer runs in at least seven innings of work.
Hernandez, who won this award in 2010, was 15-6 this season and led the league with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.915 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) over 34 starts.He was also fourth in the league with 248 strikeouts and held opponents to a league low average of .200.
As we have seen in the past the key to winning these awards is how you perform in September. Well, Hernandez posted a 1.66 ERA over his final six starts.
Kluber enjoyed a breakout season for the Tribe, going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and 269 strikeouts in 235 2/3 innings. His 7.4 Wins Above Replacement ranked first among AL starting pitchers, and he ended the season with a league-best 2.35 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching).
He also became just the third pitcher in Indians history to have at least 21 starts with eight or more strikeouts and the fourth pitcher in team history to post at least 11 double-digit strikeout performances in one season.
Kluber will try to join Cliff Lee (2008), CC Sabathia (2007) and Gaylord Perry (1972) as other Indians to win an AL Cy Young.
Sale, meanwhile, was as dominant as any pitcher in the game, but he missed time between April 17 and May 22 because of a flexor muscle strain and was only 11-14.
Still, his 2.17 ERA and 0.97 WHIP was second only to Hernandez. He struck out 208, walked 39 and yielded a mere 129 hits in 174 innings.
THE SPORTS NETWORK PICK:
NL CY YOUNG - CLAYTON KERSHAW, LOS ANGELES AL CY YOUNG - FELIX HERNANDEZ, SEATTLE
[SportsNetwork.com]
