2020 Awards Picks: MVP's and Cy Young's

If I were given a vote, below would be my picks for the AL and NL MVP and Cy Young Awards.

AL MVP: RHP Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians
Stat line: 8-1, 1.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 122/21 K/BB in 77.1 IP.
I think most people would prefer to choose a hitter as an MVP, but in a year in which not one American League hitter put up a 1.000 OPS while staying healthy for the whole two months, the door was opened for Shane Bieber and his unbelievable season. With all due respect to strong seasons from Jose Ramirez, DJ LeMahieu, Jose Abreu, and of course Mike Trout, it's a pretty easy pick for me to choose Bieber. Bieber led all AL pitchers in wins, ERA, and strikeouts and had the second best WHIP, and he did so with the second most innings in the league. With Francisco Lindor stumbling to a .258/.335/.415 slash line, the Indians really struggled to score runs with a lineup that saw only Ramirez break even an .800 OPS. The Tribe could not afford bad starts this year, and Bieber went at least five innings and allowed no more than three runs in each of his twelve starts. In fact, he allowed zero or one earned runs in seven of his twelve starts, putting even a futile Cleveland offense in position to win every single time he took the mound. And without his contributions, they would have been no better than a seven or eight seed, rather than the four seed they ended up with. The crowning achievement of his season likely came in just his second start, when he limited the eventual AL Central champion Twins to three baserunners over eight shutout innings while striking out thirteen.

Runner-Up: 3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians
Stat line: 17 HR, .292/.386/.607, 10 SB, 163 wRC+, 3.4 fWAR in 58 games.
Behind Shane Bieber, the AL MVP race is pretty jumbled, with five players finishing with an OPS between .987 and 1.011, none of which were particularly standout defenders. Jose Ramirez didn't actually lead the league in anything besides his 3.4 fWAR and 45 runs scored, but instead, was simply Very Good in lots of areas. He finished second in OPS (.993), third in home runs (17), doubles (16), RBI (46), and slugging percentage (.607), fifth in wRC+ (163) and stolen bases (10), and sixth in on-base percentage (.386). On an Indians team that absolutely could not hit, he was the only player with above an .800 OPS and essentially carried the entire offense. Bieber shut down the AL and NL Central divisions on his own, but when he wasn't on the mound, Ramirez was often tasked with single-handedly keeping pace with the Twins, White Sox, Cubs, and Cardinals offenses. His numbers need a slight asterisk because he wasn't facing the most difficult schedule in the Central division, but with good defense and baserunning ability that could not be matched by anybody in his realm of the MVP range, in addition to playing in all but two of the Indians' games, he still gets the edge.

Honorable Mention: OF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Stat line: 17 HR, .281/.390/.603, 1 SB, 164 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR in 53 games.
If Mike Trout hadn't missed a few games for the birth of his son, I think he would clearly have the third spot, but at this point it's so close that I wouldn't argue with DJ LeMahieu, Jose Abreu, or even Anthony Rendon in this spot. Trout gets the slight edge because even though he only played in 53 games (T-45th in the AL), he still collected 241 plate appearances that had him tied for 15th in the league. Throw in 17 home runs and nearly a .400 on-base percentage, and you're pretty darn close to an MVP, never mind that his .993 OPS was actually below his 1.000 career OPS. Even in what wasn't his best season (and missing a few games), the best player in the world finished third in the league in home runs (17), RBI (46), and wRC+ (164), fourth in on-base percentage (.390), slugging (.603), and runs scored (41), and fifth in fWAR (2.6). He and guys like Rendon, Dylan Bundy, and David Fletcher did all they could to keep the Angels in the playoff hunt, but their extreme lack of depth cost them as they stumbled to a 26-34 record, three games out of a postseason spot.

Others: 2B DJ LeMahieu (NYY, 2.7 fWAR), 1B Jose Abreu (CWS, 2.7 fWAR), 3B Anthony Rendon (LAA, 2.8 fWAR), Kenta Maeda (MIN, 2.70 ERA), Gerrit Cole (NYY, 2.84 ERA)

NL MVP: 1B Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
Stat line: 13 HR, .341/.462/.640, 2 SB, 187 wRC+, 3.3 fWAR in 60 games.
To me, it's very very close between Freeman and Fernando Tatis, but Freeman just barely gets the edge because of his absolute dominance at the plate. The Braves' rotation was decimated by injuries and other problems in 2020, throwing their status as the NL's consensus second best team in doubt. But Freeman, combined with Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuña, made sure that runs were never really an issue and that they could win any slugfest. Freeman in particular was a one man wrecking crew, and if not for Juan Soto, his monster .341/.462/.640 slash line would have led the NL in each category. Not only that, but Freeman was one of just seven NL players to appear in all sixty games, and his 262 plate appearances put him third in the league. He hit in August (.330/.440/.582) and he hit in September (.375/.496/.750), not just bursting out with a couple weeks of excellence but maintaining it all season long. Aside from Soto and his 200 wRC+, no National League player has topped Freeman's 187 since Bryce Harper's 197 in 2015, and before that, not since Barry Bonds' 233 in 2004.

Runner-up: SS Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
Stat line: 17 HR, .277/.366/.571, 11 SB, 149 wRC+, 3.0 fWAR in 59 games.
I wanted to give this award to Tatis, I really did, and I would have strongly considered him ahead of Shane Bieber if he were in the AL. Even though he hit just .164/.242/.291 over his last 16 games, which is more than a quarter of the season, what he did in his first 43 games was unparalleled anywhere in either league. As of September 7th, before the slump started, he was hitting .314/.405/.663 with a league leading 15 home runs, but his value went beyond that. Tatis was one of the best defenders in baseball by multiple different measures, and with eleven stolen bases, he even finished fourth in the NL in that category. He energized the Padres' players, organization, and socially distant fanbase in a way that no other player did in 2020, and for that reason I believe his value goes well beyond the 3.0 fWAR he put up in 59 games. Take Tatis out of that lineup and I don't think the 37-23 Padres drop to 34-26, but to something more like 30-30. San Diego's biggest asset in 2020 was its energy, and Tatis was at the center. Had he played even average baseball over the last couple weeks of the season, I think he would have been the clear MVP.

Honorable mention: OF Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves
Stat line: 18 HR, .338/.431/.636, 0 SB, 179 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR in 60 games.
Here in the third spot, I wouldn't argue with Manny Machado, who carried the Padres through Tatis' slump on his way to a strong .304/.370/.580 season + his trademark defense, or Trea Turner, who had an unbelievable stretch in which he hit .471/.526/.816 over 21 games (over a third of the season!) and at one point collected fifteen hits in a four stretch. But Marcell Ozuna's continued offensive dominance over a "full," sixty game season could only be matched by his teammate Freddie Freeman, and his 18 home runs and 56 RBI finished atop the National League while his .431 on-base percentage and .636 slugging percentage weren't far behind. Looking at the Braves' final 35-25 record, you'd have no idea about their rotation problems or the fact that Ronald Acuña missed nearly a quarter of the season, and that's due to Freeman and Ozuna forming the best middle of the order in baseball by far. He kept Freeman from getting the Juan Soto/Barry Bonds treatment, and in total he produced as much offense as any non-Freeman player in baseball.

Others: RHP Trevor Bauer (CIN, 1.73 ERA), 3B Manny Machado (SD, 2.5 fWAR), SS Trea Turner (WSH, 2.7 fWAR), OF Mookie Betts (LAD, 2.9 fWAR), OF Juan Soto (WSH, 2.4 fWAR)

AL Cy Young: RHP Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians
Stat line: 8-1, 1.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 122/21 K/BB in 77.1 IP.
This was the easiest award to hand out by far, didn't have to think twice. See Bieber's MVP writeup for more details.

Runner-up: RHP Kenta Maeda, Minnesota Twins
Stat line: 6-1, 2.70 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 80/10 K/BB in 66.2 IP.
This #2 slot is very close between Maeda and Gerrit Cole, but Maeda's incredible ability to not only limit runs but limit baserunners gives him the edge. His 0.75 WHIP led both leagues by a good margin ahead of second place Trevor Bauer (0.79) and third place Dinelson Lamet (0.86), and it's actually the second lowest ever in a season behind Pedro Martinez's 0.74 in 2000 (Bauer, interestingly, is fourth best all time). In his eleven starts, Maeda went at least five innings in all of them and never allowed more than three runs in a start, but more impressively, he never allowed more than six baserunners in any start. His best work came on August 18th against the Brewers when he allowed one run on just three baserunners over eight innings, striking out twelve. With a lack of superstar seasons ahead of him (aside from Bieber), it's enough to place second in the league despite a 2.70 ERA.

Honorable mention: RHP Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
Stat line: 7-3, 2.84 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 94/17 K/BB in 73 IP.
I'm a sucker for a large body of work, so the fact that Gerrit Cole finished fourth in the American League with 73 innings is a big plus for me. Obviously that's not all he had going for him, also racking up the third most strikeouts (94), fourth best WHIP (0.96), and sixth best ERA (2.84) despite pitching in a heavy hitters' park and pitching most of his road starts in hitters' parks as well in Baltimore, Atlanta, and Buffalo. Still, he spun some gems and finished the season with three consecutive seven inning starts in which he allowed one run or fewer, and he struck out at least seven in ten of his twelve starts. Yankees fans may have had sky high, Cy Young or bust expectations (I should know – I'm engaged to one) and a 2.84 ERA might feel like a let down, but given the fact that he made just two starts in pitcher friendly parks this year and that he still kept his WHIP under 1.00 and struck out nearly 100, I'd call this exactly what New York paid for.

Others: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (TOR, 2.69 ERA), LHP Dallas Keuchel (CWS, 1.99 ERA), RHP Lance Lynn (TEX, 3.32 ERA), RHP Zach Plesac (CLE, 2.28 ERA), LHP Marco Gonzales (SEA, 3.10 ERA).

NL Cy Young: RHP Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds
Stat line: 5-4, 1.73 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 100/17 K/BB in 73 IP.
It's been an interesting few years for Trevor Bauer, who never posted an ERA below 4.18 from 2012-2017 but dropped all the way to 2.21 in 2018, only to rocket back up to 4.48 in 2019. Now in 2020, he's coming off a year that could very well win him a Cy Young Award, and it was a 1.24 ERA and a 39/4 strikeout to walk ratio over his final four starts that fully pushed him past Jacob deGrom. Bauer's entire season was exceptional, with four different starts of a dozen or more strikeouts, eight out of eleven starts allowing either zero or one earned run, and all eleven where he pitched into the sixth inning. He led the National League in ERA (1.73) and WHIP (0.79) while finishing second in strikeouts (100) and sixth in innings pitched, all while pitching in a tough hitters' park in Cincinnati. This year, it was the Reds' offense that scuffled at times, not its pitching as had been the case in years past, and Bauer combined with Luis Castillo to form one of the best one-two punches in baseball. The short season obviously matters, but his 0.79 WHIP is technically the lowest in the history of the National League, and that counts for something.

Runner-up: RHP Yu Darvish, Chicago Cubs
Stat line: 8-3, 2.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 93/14 K/BB in 76 IP.
I went back and forth between Yu Darvish and Dinelson Lamet for this spot, but Darvish gets the edge with seven more innings pitched, a slightly lower ERA, and similar dominance in terms of keeping runners off the bases. He was one of baseball's better pitchers from 2012-2016 with the Rangers before falling into more of an inconsistent, mid-rotation profile with the Dodgers and Cubs from 2017-2019. 2020 was the best we've ever seen from the Japanese hurler, in which he had the second best ERA in the National League. After allowing three runs over four innings in an unremarkable first start of the season, he allowed zero or one earned run in eight of his final eleven starts and went at least six innings in each of them. That consistency was key for a Cubs team that won the NL Central for the first time since 2017, and by eating 76 innings, he was third in the league. He did it by the strikeout, his 93 finishing fourth in the league, but he also did it with excellent command, his 1.66 walks per nine finishing second only to his teammate Kyle Hendricks.

Honorable mention: RHP Dinelson Lamet, San Diego Padres
Stat line: 3-1, 2.09 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 93/20 K/BB in 69 IP.
A three win pitcher as a top three Cy Young candidate? 2020 really is a different animal. After flashing strikeout stuff over his first two seasons sandwiched around Tommy John surgery, Dinelson Lamet put it all together in 2020 for baseball's most exciting team. In twelve starts, he put up a 2.09 ERA, struck out 93, and allowed just 39 hits in 69 innings. Aside from a precautionary early exit in his final start of the season, Lamet went at least five innings in all of his starts and never allowed more than six hits or three earned runs in any. He finished second in the NL in WHIP (0.86), third in ERA (2.09), and fourth in strikeouts (93). His .250 xwOBA (expected opponents' offense, essentially) was third in the NL behind only Bauer and Jacob deGrom, showing that his exceptional season was earned, too. If you've never seen a Lamet slider, you need to watch one of his starts.

Others: RHP Jacob deGrom (NYM, 2.38 ERA), RHP Kyle Hendricks (CHC, 2.88 ERA), LHP Clayton Kershaw (LAD, 2.16 ERA), RHP Corbin Burnes (MIL, 2.11 ERA), RHP German Marquez (COL, 3.75 ERA)

2019 Dugout Edge Regular Season Awards: MVP's and Cy Youngs

These awards are based on how I would assign them, not how I believe they will end up. Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Reliever of the Year will follow, time permitting

American League MVP
Winner: CF Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
Stat Line: 45 HR, 104 RBI, .291/.438/.645, 11 SB, 180 wRC+, 8.6 fWAR in 134 games
Alex Bregman's white-hot second half paired with Mike Trout's season ending three weeks early made this a much tougher call than it was a month ago, but ultimately, I think Trout pulls ahead by a hair here. Trout finished with 45 home runs, an on-base percentage well north of .400, excellent base running that goes beyond his eleven stolen bases, good defense, and overall consistent performance. He led the American League wOBA (.436), wRC+ (180), and fWAR (8.6), and when I compared his cumulative stats to Bregman's (that's the way to do it when it comes to weighing performances over significantly different numbers of games, right?), he topped him in most of them. RE24 is a bit of a flawed stat that I prefer for pitchers, but it's still a good stat that measures run expectancy impact and Trout accumulated 71.5 "runs" of value provided while Bregman finished second in the AL with 59.9. Bregman was so, so good down the stretch, but Trout was so, so much better when he was on the field and it gave him the edge. He held an OPS above 1.000 in each month, managed 16 home runs in a 26 game stretch from July 3rd to August 6th, and at one point scored a run in eleven straight games despite a fairly futile offense around him. Trout is unquestionably the best player of our era and is closing in on becoming the best player of all time if he isn't already. Now with 285 career home runs, 200 stolen bases, and 73.4 fWAR in 1199 games, he has moved up to 47th on the all time list despite only having turned 28 in August. In the last few months of the season, he past the likes of Frank Thomas (72.1), Rod Carew (72.3), and Derek Jeter (73.1). Easily within reach for 2020 are Johnny Bench (74.8) and Ken Griffey Jr. (77.7).

Runner up: 3B/SS Alex Bregman (Houston Astros)
Stat Line: 41 HR, 112 RBI, .296/.423/.592, 5 SB, 168 wRC+, 8.4 fWAR in 156 games
Even though I picked Trout as being a hair ahead of Bregman, it's true that the Astros' third baseman had a tremendous season that would have netted him the MVP in many other seasons. He was solid through the first chunk of the season, though his .259/.393/.516 line on July 31st resembled much more of an All Star-type season than that which could get him compared to Mike Trout. However, he flipped a switch in August and stayed white hot throughout the rest of the season, slashing .372/.487/.750 with 15 home runs, 21 doubles, 49 driven in, and nearly twice as many walks (37) as strikeouts (20) in 51 games over the final third of the season. It's not like the Astros necessarily needed that to propel them to what was an easy AL West crown, but Bregman was certainly front and center in the success that led them to an MLB-high 107 wins. And if his bat and steady defense at third base weren't enough, he also appeared in 65 games at shortstop while Carlos Correa was hurt, more than holding his own. It really is so close, but playing in the same league as Trout is tough, and I have to hand Trout the award here. Bregman's 8.4 fWAR would have led the National League had the Astros not switched over back in 2013, and he was the only player in the majors (min. 400 PA) with more walks than strikeouts.

Honorable mention: SS Marcus Semien (Oakland A's)
Stat Line: 33 HR, 92 RBI, .285/.369/.522, 10 SB, 137 wRC+, 7.5 fWAR in 162 games
Who saw this one coming? Marcus Semien, who had never put up more than 56 extra base hits in a season, had 83 this season (43 2B, 7 3B, 33 HR) to finish third in the American League behind only Red Sox teammates Rafael Devers (90) and Xander Bogaerts (85). All those extra base hits, including 33 home runs, helped him slash .285/.369/.522 despite a pitcher-friendly home park, his 137 wRC+ placing tenth in the AL. Like Bregman, he also got hot late, slashing .304/.396/.621 with 19 home runs in the second half and .347/.441/.693 with eight home runs in September, helping propel the A's to the AL Wild Card Game. Of course, possibly even more valuable than his bat was his glove, as he played Gold Glove defense at shortstop all year long to team with Matt Chapman in giving the A's the best left side infield defense in the game. Additionally, Semien was one of only four American League players to appear in all 162 games, joining the Royals' Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler and the Orioles' Jonathan Villar. Semien's numbers might not pop out like Trout's or Bregman's, but his combination of well above average hitting, excellent defense, and durability made him the third most valuable player in the American League (and, as it turns out, in the AL West).

Others:
RHP Justin Verlander (HOU, 2.58 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 300/42/223 K/BB/IP)
RHP Gerrit Cole (HOU, 2.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 326/48/212.1 K/BB/IP)
SS Xander Bogaerts (BOS, 33 HR, .309/.384/.555, 6.8 fWAR)
3B Rafael Devers (BOS, 32 HR, .311/.361/.555, 5.9 fWAR)
RF Mookie Betts (BOS, 29 HR, .295/.391/.524, 6.6 fWAR)

National League MVP
Winner: RF Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Stat Line: 47 HR, 115 RBI, .305/.406/.629, 15 SB, 162 wRC+, 7.7 fWAR in 156 games
If Christian Yelich hadn't gotten hurt, I'd be handing him this award. However, he did, and Bellinger's monster first half and strong second half carried him just past Yelich over the final few weeks of the season. I know that a lot of people will look at his .263/.371/.546 second half line and dislike it, and while it would be ideal to have your best player be more consistent, I really have no problem with it. Most people would have no problem if he slashed .263/.371/.546 in the first half before catching fire in the second half, because his performance "in the stretch run" would be what "propelled the Dodgers into the postseason." However, I think it's important to note that a win in mid-April counts every bit as much as a win in mid-September, and you could even argue that the early season games were more important for the Dodgers as they established their stranglehold on the NL West before coasting for most of the rest of the season, even if Bellinger slowed down in that stretch. Now, he was truly incredible out of the gate. Over his first 30 games, Bellinger slashed .434/.508/.906 with 14 home runs. I don't care what you do after that, if you're worth 2.9 wins in 30 games, you earn plenty of slack. Those first 30 games included 15 multi-hit games, 13 separate games with a home run, and an appearance on base in all but one of those games. From there on out, he slashed .274/.382/.564 – All Star caliber numbers, but not quite MVP totals. However, all together, that .305/.406/.629 line with 47 home runs represents one of the most potent bats in the National League. Throw in his 15 stolen bases and high level defense in the outfield as well as at first base and you have a National League MVP worth 7.7 fWAR in 156 games.

Runner-up: RF Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers)
Stat Line: 44 HR, 97 RBI, .329/.429/.671, 30 SB, 174 wRC+, 7.8 fWAR in 130 games
As I said with Bellinger, Yelich was the MVP when he got hurt on September 10th, but unlike Trout, he couldn't hang on while on the shelf, at least in my opinion. Now unlike Bellinger, Yelich was much more consistent throughout the season. By posting at least a .935 OPS in every month and splitting his slash lines at .329/.433/.707 in the first half and .330/.423/.611 in the second half, he managed to finish at .329/.429/.671 with 44 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 130 games. Not many players can go 40-30-.400 (HR-SB-OBP); in fact, nobody has this century, with Jeff Bagwell and his 42 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and .454 OBP in 1999 marking the last time anybody has done it. It's a real disappointment that Yelich didn't get to finish his fantastic season, but he still has a real shot at the MVP award and I would not throw a fit if he won over Bellinger. He had a couple of incredible games during the season, too: on April 15th, he homered three times against the Cardinals, on August 5th, he went 4-5 with a couple home runs in Pittsburgh, and on August 17th, he went 5-6 with a couple home runs in Washington.

Honorable mention: 3B Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals)
Stat Line: 34 HR, 126 RBI, .319/.412/.598, 5 SB, 154 wRC+, 7.0 fWAR in 146 games
For most of the season, the NL MVP was a two horse race, but a red-hot second half from Anthony Rendon, coupled with a quieter second half from Cody Bellinger and an injury to Christian Yelich, made it interesting at the end. Rendon slashed an impressive .304/.386/.611 with 20 home runs in the first half, but he caught fire in the second, slashing .389/.462/.674 with 12 home runs over 49 games from there until September 4th. However, he slowed back down over the last few weeks of the season, slashing .194/.381/.347 the rest of the way and effectively falling out of the race. Still, the final product of 34 home runs, a .319/.412/.598 line, and a major league-leading 126 RBI made him perhaps the biggest on-field reason why the Nationals surged the way they did. On the glove side, Rendon was as steady as they come, making all the routine plays as well as the regular highlight reel play. In the National League, perhaps only Cody Bellinger could match Rendon's value on both sides of the ball this year.

Others:
CF/SS Ketel Marte (ARI, 32 HR, .329/.389/.592, 10 SB, 7.0 fWAR)
RHP Jacob deGrom (2.43 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 255/44/204 K/BB/IP)
CF Ronald Acuna (ATL, 41 HR, .280/.365/.518, 5.6 fWAR)
3B Nolan Arenado (COL, 41 HR, .315/.379/.583, 5.9 fWAR)
C Yasmani Grandal (MIL, 28 HR, .246/.380/.468, 5.7 fWAR)

American League Cy Young
Winner: RHP Justin Verlander (Houston Astros)
Stat Line: 21-6, 2.58 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 300/42 K/BB in 223 IP
You could pick either Justin Verlander or Gerrit Cole here and you wouldn't be wrong. Those who pick Cole probably value more strikeouts, which Cole had (326 to 300 or 39.9% K-rate to 35.4%), while those who value limiting baserunners probably choose Verlander (0.80 WHIP to 0.89). Now, the 36 year old Verlander had one of his finest seasons to date, reaching 200 innings for the 12th time in the past 13 years and reaching 300 strikeouts for the first time ever. He led the American League in wins (21), innings pitched (223), WHIP (0.80), and strikeout to walk ratio (7.14:1), tied for the lead in starts (34), finished second to Cole in ERA (2.58) and strikeouts (300), and even threw a no-hitter. He went at least six innings in 29 of his 34 starts, which in today's game is unheard of. He never allowed more than four runs, earned or unearned, in any game, and struck out at least seven batters in 27 starts. That consistency also carried over to the longer term, as he never posted a WHIP above 0.92 in any given month and only had one month with an ERA above 2.68. At this point, he has cemented himself as one of the top pitchers of the 21st Century.

Runner-up: RHP Gerrit Cole (Houston Astros)
Stat Line: 20-5, 2.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 326/48 K/BB in 212.1 IP
Gerrit Cole struck out 326 batters in 2019 and led the American League in ERA. Nobody has struck out that many in a season since Randy Johnson struck out 334 in 2002. Furthermore, Cole's 39.9% strikeout rate was the best EVER a starting pitcher. And not just by a hair, by 2.4% over Pedro Martinez's 37.5% in 1999! That's incredible. He also finished the season exceptionally strong, going 11-0 with a 1.79 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, and a 156/18 strikeout to walk ratio over 95.2 innings in the second half. In the month of September, he was absolutely untouchable, posting a 1.07 ERA, a 0.64 WHIP, and a 74/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 42 innings – if you're counting, that's a 48.7% strikeout rate over an entire month. All those strikeouts combined with elite run prevention and baserunner prevention makes for one hell of a season.

Honorable mention: RHP Shane Bieber (Cleveland Indians)
Stat Line: 15-8, 3.28 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 259/40 K/BB in 214.1 IP
Before the season, how many of you had Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole finishing one and two for the Cy Young? Probably quite a few. How about Shane Bieber finishing third? Now that's a surprise. His season started modestly enough, as he ran a 3.81 ERA through May 13th, threw a complete game shutout to bring it down to 3.22 on May 19th, but had it back up at 4.07 by June 9th. However, he spun a 12 strikeout gem against the Tigers on June 15th, and from that start onwards, he went 10-6 with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and a 163/20 strikeout to walk ratio over 137 innings to close out the season. While his complete game, 15 strikeout, no run performance against Baltimore on May 19th was his best by the numbers, he came back on July 24th with a second complete game shutout, this time allowing just three baserunners while striking out ten. His third complete game on August 3rd made him one of only two AL pitchers this year with three complete games, the other being Lucas Giolito. Despite relative anonymity at the start of the season, he led all American League pitchers not named Verlander or Cole in innings (214.1), strikeouts (259), WHIP (1.05), and strikeout to walk ratio (6.48:1), though of course he was third to those two in each category.

Others:
RHP Charlie Morton (TB, 3.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 240/57/194.2 K/BB/IP)
RHP Lance Lynn (TEX, 3.67 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 246/59/208.1 K/BB/IP)
LHP Mike Minor (TEX, 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 200/68/208.1 K/BB/IP)
RHP Lucas Giolito (CWS, 3.41 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 228/57/176.2 K/BB/IP)
RHP Mike Clevinger (CLE, 2.71 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 169/37/126 K/BB/IP)

National League Cy Young
Winner: RHP Jacob deGrom (New York Mets)
Stat Line: 11-8, 2.43 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 255/44 K/BB in 204 IP
For a while, it was a two horse race between Hyun-Jin Ryu and Max Scherzer, but both slowed down in the second half while Jacob deGrom picked it up. After starting the season with 13 shutout innings and 24 strikeouts to two walks, he scuffled a bit over the rest of April and had a 4.85 ERA when the month closed, and another rough start on May 17th left him 2-5 with a 3.98 ERA through nine starts. However, he turned it on from there, finishing 9-3 with a 1.91 ERA over his last 23 starts. He continually got stronger as the season wore on, as that run included a 1.44 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, and a 117/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 94 innings in the second half. He went exactly seven innings in eleven of his last twelve starts, allowing one earned run or fewer in nine of those. In the end, the only thing he led the NL in was strikeouts (255), but he still finished a close second in ERA (2.43) and WHIP (0.97) and third in innings pitched (204).

Runner-up: RHP Jack Flaherty (St. Louis Cardinals)
Stat Line: 11-8, 2.75 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 231/55 K/BB in 196.1 IP
Jack Flaherty's 2019 season started plainly enough, holding a 3.77 ERA over the first two months of the season, but a rough June left him with a 4.90 ERA heading into his July 7th start. However, since then, he's been the best pitcher in the National League, going 7-3 with a 0.93 ERA, a 0.70 WHIP, and a 130/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 106.1 innings to close out the year. Over those last 16 starts, he allowed zero or one run 13 times and only once allowed more than five hits in a game (six on July 21st). The end result was that he and Jacob deGrom were the only National League pitchers to throw at least 190 innings with an ERA below 3.20, and his 0.97 WHIP was the best in the league.

Honorable mention: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Stat Line: 14-5, 2.32 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 163/24 K/BB in 182.2 IP
This one was really close between Ryu and Stephen Strasburg, but I ultimately went with Ryu based on the complete dominance he had in most of his starts despite missing some time. The major league ERA leader stumbled a bit in the second half, including a four start stretch in August and September where he allowed 21 earned runs and 38 baserunners in 19 innings (9.95 ERA, 2.00 WHIP), but up until there, he had been virtually untouchable. Heading into that stretch, Ryu was 12-2 with a 1.45 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and a 121/17 strikeout to walk ratio over 142.2 innings. He never struck out a ton of batters, reaching double digits in just one start, but he still had ten scoreless starts of at least six innings out of his 29 total, and in two more he allowed unearned runs but no earned runs. His two best starts of the season may have come back to back, when he tossed a four hit, no walk, six strikeout, complete game shutout against a strong Braves lineup on May 7th then followed it up with eight shutout innings on one hit, one walk, and nine strikeouts against a strong Nationals lineup on May 12th. In the end, he led the majors with a 2.32 ERA and the National League with a 3.3% walk rate.

Others
RHP Stephen Strasburg (WSH, 3.32 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 251/56/209 K/BB/IP)
RHP Max Scherzer (WSH, 2.92 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 243/33/172.1 K/BB/IP)
RHP Walker Buehler (LAD, 3.26 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 215/37/182.1 K/BB/IP)
LHP Clayton Kershaw (LAD, 3.03 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 189/41/178.1 K/BB/IP)
LHP Sonny Gray (CIN, 2.87 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 205/68/175.1 K/BB/IP)