Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta capped off a remarkable close to the 2015 season with his first career National League Cy Young Award.
Arrieta received 17 first-place votes, with Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw finishing second and third in the vote, respectively.
Greinke received 10 first-place votes, and Kershaw three. Arrieta and Greinke were separated by 22 points overall.
Kershaw had won the award in each of the last two years, and three of the last four years.
However, he was largely an afterthought to Arrieta and Greinke in the 2015 race. That being said, each of the NL Cy Young finalists had a strong case to take home the award:
Arrieta: 22-6, 1.77 ERA, 0.87 WHIP
Greinke: 19-3, 1.66 ERA, 0.84 WHIP
Kershaw: 16-7, 2.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP
Opponents’ slash line against the three pitchers:
Arrieta: .185/.236/.271
Greinke: .187/.231/.276
Kershaw: .194/.237/.284
If not for Arrieta’s historic second half of the season, Greinke likely would’ve ran away with the award. The Dodgers got an up-close look at Arrieta’s dominance during a no-hit performance at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 30.
On the season he ranked first in wins and home runs allowed per nine innings (0.40), and tied for first with four complete games and three shutouts. Arrieta and Kershaw tied for the NL lead with 33 starts; Greinke tied for second with 32.
Arrieta’s 0.75 ERA after the All-Star break was the lowest since 1933. Dating back to Aug. 4, he closed the season 11-0 with a 0.41 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched over his final 12 starts of the season.
Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel won the American League Cy Young Award, the first of his career. Keuchel set career highs in wins (20), innings pitched (232), shutouts (two) and strikeouts (216), among other statistics.
Keuchel was also named the 2015 Warren Spahn Award winner, presented annually to the best left-hander in the Majors. Kershaw has won the award in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Arrieta’s win adds to the Cubs’ awards-season success, with Joe Maddon winning Manager of the Year and Kris Bryant Rookie of the Year over the last two days.
