Oct 19, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) reacts after striking out Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (not pictured) to end the sixth inning in game one of the ALCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
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While the Cy Young races might’ve appeared close throughout the season, Astros’ Justin Verlander and Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara ran away with the awards.
For much of the season, it looked as if the Cy Young races in both the American and National Leagues were going to come down to the wire. In the AL, it was Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease seemingly going blow-for-blow with one another to try and determine the league’s superior pitcher. And in the NL, Sandy Alcantara was being challenged by the likes of Julio Urias and others.
When it was all said and done, though, the races weren’t tight at all — at least that’s what the final vote tallies tell us.
Verlander and Alcantara were announced as the Cy Young winners on Wednesday night with both pitchers earning all 30 first-place votes for their respective leagues.
Best memes, tweets reacting to Justin Verlander, Sandy Alcantara winning Cy Young awards
Perhaps one of the best tweets in reaction to the winners encapsulated just how rare of a feat it is for both recipients of the award to be unanimous selections. It had happened just one time before this season.
this is the 2nd time both Cy Young Awards were unanimous, along with:
1968: Denny McLain, Bob Gibson
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) November 17, 2022
Beyond that, though, there were plenty of fans and media members celebrating the award win for both players.
There’s something very satisfying about Alcantara having a 2.28 ERA in 228 innings and Verlander having a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings. Manfred did a great job when he scripted their Cy Young seasons.
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) November 16, 2022
One of my favorite hobbies from the 2022 season was checking a Marlins boxscore to see what Sandy Alcantara did during his starts. The guy was unbelievable. Deservingly unanimous https://t.co/zKcXpo0Lf9
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) November 17, 2022
Verlander becomes the first pitcher in history to win a Cy Young Award after not pitching in the previous season.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 17, 2022
The Cardinals traded two future aces in Sandy Alcantara & Zac Gallen for Marcell Ozuna. 😬 Just shows you never really know with these prospect trades.
— Thomas Carrieri (@Thomas_Carrieri) November 17, 2022
Unanimous Cy Young Sandy Alcantara. Deserved.
— The Good Phight – x (@TheGoodPhight) November 16, 2022
With the third win of his career, Verlander also joined elite historical company with this feat.
Justin Verlander is the 11th pitcher to win 3+ CYA, joining:
Roger Clemens: 7
Randy Johnson: 5
Steve Carlton: 4
Greg Maddux: 4
Clayton Kershaw: 3
Sandy Koufax: 3
Pedro Martínez: 3
Jim Palmer: 3
Max Scherzer: 3
Tom Seaver: 3
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) November 17, 2022
Alcantara also made some history, though, as he is the first Marlins pitcher to capture a Cy Young award.
Though it’s rare to see unanimous Cy Young winners, it’s hard to make any case that it wasn’t deserved after the 2022 season. Verlander led the AL in virtually every pitching statistic outside of strikeouts while Alcantara hurled six complete games for Miami and was dominant otherwise as well.
Hats off to these two and it’s surely not the last we’ll see of either’s dominance.