Astros’ Dallas Keuchel and Cubs’ Jake Arrieta Take Cy Young Award

By Francisco Romero

Astros’ shortstop Carlos Correa took the Rookie of the Year award earlier this week, but Wednesday night belonged to Astros’ lefty Dallas Keuchel as he was named the American League Cy Young Award winner by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Jake Arrieta won the Cy Young Award in the National League.

Keuchel went 20-8 with three complete games and a 2.48 ERA (64ER/232IP) in 33 starts this season. He led all AL pitchers in wins, WAR (7.2), innings pitched (232.0) and groundball to flyball ratio (3.68), ranked second in ERA and opponent batting average (.217) and tied for third in complete games.

The lefty was the starting pitcher for the AL All-Star Team, earned three AL Pitcher of the Month Awards (April, May, August) and won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award at his position. In his two postseason starts, Keuchel went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1ER/13IP).

Keuchel becomes just the third player in franchise history to win the Cy Young, joining Mike Scott (1986) and Roger Clemens (2004). This award, in which Keuchel topped AL finalists David Price and Sonny Gray, gives Keuchel a clean sweep of the major pitching awards this offseason, as he has already earned the MLBPA Players Choice Award for the AL Most Outstanding Pitcher, the Warren Spahn Award, which is given to the top left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, and the Gold Glove Award.

Jake Arrieta (Chicago Cubs)

Picture Courtesy: Chicago Cubs

Arrieta is only the fifth pitcher in Cubs history to win the Cy Young Award, the first in 23 years since Greg Maddux took home the honor in 1992. Fergie Jenkins (1971), Bruce Sutter (1979) and Rick Sutcliffe (1984) join Arrieta and Maddux as Cy Young winners in franchise history.

In 2015, Arrieta went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA (45 ER/229.0 IP) in 33 starts, leading the majors in wins and posting the lowest ERA by a Cubs pitcher in 96 years (Pete Alexander, 1.72 ERA, 1919). Arrieta went 12-1 with a 0.75 ERA (9 ER/107.1 IP) in 15 starts after the All-Star Break, the lowest ERA in the second half of a season since the All-Star Game was instituted in 1933.

He went 11-0 with a 0.41 ERA (4 ER/88.1 IP) in his final 12 starts beginning August 4 to win N.L. Pitcher of the Month honors in August and September. The 0.41 ERA is the lowest post-August 1 mark since ERA became an official statistic.