CC Sabathia won 21 games for the Yankees with a 3.18 ERA. David Price won 19 games for the Rays with a 2.72 ERA. Jon Lester, Justin Verlander, Clay Buchholz, Trevor Cahill, and several other pitchers all won at least 14 times with low ERA figures. But, in the end, the Baseball Writers Association of America saw past the win totals and awarded the 2010 American League Cy Young to Seattle’s young Felix Hernandez.
Felix Hernandez Wins 2010 A.L. Cy Young Award Despite Record
Pitching for a terrible Mariners team, Hernandez won just 13 times, with 12 losses to his name. However, he also led the league in innings, ERA, and quality starts while receiving the lowest run support in baseball, which built a very convincing case. Such a convincing case, in fact, that Hernandez picked up 21 of a possible 28 first-place votes, with Price getting four, and Sabathia getting three.
Hernandez becomes the second Cy Young winner in Mariners history, joining Randy Johnson in 1995. He’s also the second Venezuelan-born player ever to win. He was the runner-up in 2009, behind Zack Greinke.
The full voting table is shown below, courtesy of the BBWAA:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | |
| Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners | 21 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 167 |
| David Price, Tampa Bay Rays | 4 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 111 | |
| CC Sabathia, New York Yankees | 3 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 102 |
| Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox | 1 | 9 | 12 | 33 | ||
| Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox | 2 | 5 | 4 | 20 | ||
| Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners/Texas Rangers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| Trevor Cahill, Oakland Athletics | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers | 1 | 1 |
See More:
