Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber was officially named the 2014 AL Cy Young award winner on Wednesday night. Kluber upset favorite Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and also beat out Chris Sale of the White Sox for the award, winning by 10 points and receiving 17 of 30 first-place votes.
Corey Kluber wins 2014 AL Cy Young award
The right-hander finishes up a remarkable 2014 campaign by winning the AL Cy Young award.
Despite a solid 2013 campaign, Kluber’s performance in 2014 surprised everyone, and that continued with the announcement of his triumph in the Cy Young voting. The 28-year-old posted a 2.44 ERA and 2.35 FIP in 235⅔ innings this past season, striking out 269 batters and walking just 51 over 34 starts. He compiled the most WAR of any AL starter, according to both versions of the metric.
Kluber’s tremendous second half ultimately earned him the award. In 104 innings after the All-Star Break, Kluber finished with a 1.73 ERA, striking out an incredible 6.7 times as many batters as he walked. The righty allowed more than three earned runs just once in 14 starts during the second half.
That Kluber was able to out-pitch Hernandez in the more hitter-friendly environment of Progressive Field and with a worse defense behind him than the Mariners’ hurler enjoyed likely contributed to his victory Wednesday night.
Kluber becomes the fourth Indians pitcher to win the Cy Young award after Gaylord Perry (1972), CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (2008).
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