Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber win Cy Young awards again

Mike Oz

Here’s hoping Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer still have room in their trophy cases, because they’re gonna need it, to fit another Cy Young in there.

Max Scherzer won the NL Cy Young award again Wednesday, and the Kluber took home the AL version again, as this generation’s greatest MLB pitchers keep adding to their legacies. For Kluber, it’s his second win in four seasons and for Scherzer, it’s his third Cy Young and second in a row — which puts him in elite company historically.

In the AL, Kluber received 28 of the 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox finished second with the other two first-place votes and Luis Severino of the New York Yankees finished third. Carlos Carrasco, Kluber’s teammate in Cleveland, finished fourth and Justin Verlander finished fifth.

In the NL, Scherzer received 27 of 30 first-place votes. Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers finished second with the other three first-place votes. Scherzer’s teammate with the Washington Nationals, Stephen Strasburg, finished third. Zack Greinke finished fourth and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen finished fifth.

Here are the final vote tallies, via the BBWAA. You can see individual ballots on their site. As always, we should remind you that voting took place after the regular season and doesn’t include postseason performance.

(BBWAA)
(BBWAA)
(BBWAA)
(BBWAA)

Scherzer enters high company with his third Cy Young award. He’s now the 10th pitcher in history to win three Cy Youngs, a group that includes Kershaw, Tom Seaver, Pedro Martinez, as well as Greg Maddux and Steve Carlton, who have four, Randy Johnson (five) and Roger Clemens (seven).

Scherzer, 33, has been great for a while, but 2017 ranks as one of the best seasons of his career. He was 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA, and an NL-best 6.0 Wins Above Replacement, according to Fangraphs.

Kluber, 31, took home the Cy Young in 2014 and finished third last season. He’s now the 19th pitcher in MLB history to win multiple Cy Young awards. The Indians won an AL-best 102 games this season and Kluber’s performance — especially down the stretch — was a big part of that.

His post-All Star break numbers were just silly. He was 11-1 with a 1.79 ERA, which is as dominant as you can be in a year when offense was up around baseball and homers were leaving the yard at a record pace. Kluber’s full body of work — 18-4 with an AL-best 2.25 ERA in 203.2 innings — was remarkable considering the way hitters dominated 2017.

Now the question is, will they win another? Both Scherzer and Kluber have plenty of time to make that happen.

2017 Cy Young winners: Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber. (AP)
2017 Cy Young winners: Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber. (AP)

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!