Julio Urías was named among the finalists for the 2022 National League Cy Young Award. He’s joined by Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara and Atlanta Braves’ Max Fried.
Last season the Los Angeles Dodgers were represented in Cy Young Award finalists by Max Scherzer, who finished in third place as it went to Milwaukee Brewers’ Corbin Burnes. Walker Buehler finished fourth with 70 points, and Urías received three fifth-place votes.
That was despite Urías being the only 20-game winner in baseball during the 2021 season, and it prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to declare the left-hander was overlooked.
Urías followed up that impressive campaign by going 17-7 with a 2.16 ERA, 3.71 FIP and 0.96 WHIP over 31 starts. He led the NL in ERA and ERA+ (194) and emerged as an ace for the Dodgers.
At various points throughout this past season, Urías garnered Cy Young Award support from Roberts and Freddie Freeman. Though, the 26-year-old continued to downplay the possibility and maintained his focus was solely on pitching well enough to help the Dodgers win games.
“Last year, I thought he was slighted as far as not being part of the conversation,” Roberts said in September. “This year, he’s back with another really good year. With all the numbers guys look at, with what he’s done this season, it’s worthy of the conversation. No doubt about it.
“I think Julio has been throwing the baseball as well as anybody in baseball since the (All-Star) break. Or even before the break, actually. I certainly don’t have a vote, but it’s hard to ignore what this guy does for a championship-caliber ballclub.
“He wasn’t an All-Star this year for some ridiculous reason, so to be able to be in that Cy Young conversation, I think that’s the floor.”
Despite the impressive season, Urías and Fried are widely perceived as long shots to win the Cy Young. Alcántara was just 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA for a struggling Marlins team, but he had an MLB-high six complete games this season.
Furthermore, the right-hander logged at least eight innings in 14 of 32 starts, which was the most by any pitcher since Chris Sale had 13 such outings during the 2016 season.
The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner will be revealed on MLB Network at 3 p.m. PT on Wednesday, November 16.
Sandy Alcántara bests Julio Urías & Zac Gallen
In what could have been a preview for Cy Young Award voting, Alcántara topped Urías and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen for NL Outstanding Pitcher in the 2022 Players Choice Awards.
Trevor Bauer (2020) was last to win both the Outstanding Pitcher Award from the MLBPA and Cy Young in the same season. That was part of a four-year stretch that saw the same pitcher win both awards.
It ended last year when the Outstanding Pitcher Award went to Scherzer, while Burnes won Cy Young.
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