Toronto Blue Jays‘ Hyun-Jin Ryu, Cleveland Indians‘ Shane Bieber and Minnesota Twins‘ Kenta Maeda have been named finalists for the American League’s Cy Young award.
Trevor Bauer of the Cincinnati Reds, Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs and Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets were named finalists for the National League’s Cy Young award.
Ryu had an exceptional year with the Blue Jays. The 33-year-old put up a 5-2 record, with a 2.69 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. The South Korean native has established himself as an ace with Toronto, which is exactly what the Blue Jays wanted when they signed him to a four-year, $80-million contract.
Bieber was also dominant this year, posting a Major League-best 1.63 ERA and striking out 41 per cent of batters he faced in his 12 starts.
Maeda, who was traded by the Dodgers to the Twins in February, put up an 2.70 ERA, a 0.75 WHIP and 80 strikeouts over 66.2 innings in 2020.
On the National League side, Bauer led the league with a 1.73 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. The 29-year-old also struck out 36 per cent of batters he faced in 73 innings pitched.
Darvish finished the season with a 2.01 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 93 strikeouts over 76 innings. If deGrom takes the Cy Young this year, he will become just the third pitcher in MLB history to win the award in three consecutive years.
The winners will be announced on Nov. 11.
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