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HOUSTON (AP) — It didn’t take Justin Verlander long to realize he could be in for a special year after missing nearly two full seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Heading into his fifth start, Verlander knew he was back.
“In that moment, I felt normal and like myself, pain free, able to recover like I always have,” he said. “I think my whole mindset changed to say, ‘Okay, I’m the pitcher I’ve always been.'”
On Wednesday, the Houston ace capped off his stellar season by winning the American League Cy Young Award, joining Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the National League as unanimous selections.
It’s the second time the winners in both leagues have been unanimous since the award began in 1956 and the first since Detroit’s Denny McLain in the American League and St. Louis’ Bob Gibson in the National League swept the vote in 1968.
Verlander, 39, who also won the award in 2019 after winning MVP and Cy Young awards in 2011, becomes the 11th player to win it three times. He also won unanimously in 2011.
He said that this one has a different meaning.
“This shows that I am at a different time in my life,” Verlander said. “I will always remember this Cy Young as a look back at my growth as a father and as a person, and also at rehab and all the hard work that went into rehab and how he was so committed to it. he was going to go well and I was going to come back and be me.”
Verlander led the majors with a 1.75 ERA, the lowest in his 17-year career. He becomes the fourth American League pitcher with two unanimous Cy Young Awards, joining Roger Clemens (1986, 1998), Pedro Martínez (1999, 2000) and Johan Santana (2004, 2006).
Verlander led the Astros to the best record in the American League, and while the postseason doesn’t count toward the award, he earned his first career World Series win in Game 5 as Houston beat Philadelphia in six games.
Verlander, who will receive a $200,000 bonus, is a free agent and said he has contacted Astros owner Jim Crane about a possible return, but noted that Houston is far from his only potential suitor.
“Obviously, there are a lot of people who are interested and Jim understands that based on our conversation,” he said. “He completely understands. … So we’ll see what happens.”
Alcantara had a 2.28 ERA while pitching a major league-best 228 2/3 innings and six complete games. He is the first Cy Young Award winner for the 27-year-old Dominican, who becomes the first Marlins player to receive the honor.
“It makes me feel so special because I came here to the Marlins with my positive mindset, just trying to win,” he said. “I tried to compete, I tried to improve. This year I put everything in the same place, working hard. I have had great success. And now, winning the National League Cy Young, I feel so happy and blessed.”
Alcantara received all 30 first-place votes, the 15th time the National League has had a unanimous winner. Atlanta’s Max Fried was second with 72 points, including 10 second-place votes, and Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías was third with 66 points and seven second-place votes.
Behind Verlander, who was the 11th American League pitcher to win unanimously, were the Chicago White Sox’s Dylan Cease with 97 points and 14 second-place votes and Toronto’s Alek Manoah with 87 points and seven second-place votes. . All three pitchers were named on each ballot.
Verlander’s 18 wins led the American League, and he had 185 strikeouts to give him 3,198 for his career, the most among active players.
Alcantara’s six complete games were the most in the majors since Chris Sale had six in 2016. The two-time All-Star went 14-9 and pitched seven or more innings in 13 consecutive starts from May 11-15. July, which was the longest. such a streak since 2014.
Alcantara’s innings pitched and wins were the highest of his career and his ERA was the best in six seasons and ranked second in the National League.
“Hard work, positivity, every day, fighting for my team, competing against any team. That makes it special,” he said. “My mentality all the time is to be aggressive. Try to improve every day. And I will continue to do the same. And let’s see if I can win the Cy Young next year, too.”
He joins Martínez (1997) as the only player born in the Dominican Republic to win the National League award. Martínez also won twice in the American League (1999, 2000) and the other Dominican American League winner was Bartolo Colón in 2005.
Urías went 17-7 and led the National League with a 2.16 ERA to help the Dodgers lead the majors with 111 regular-season wins. The lefty had 166 strikeouts after a 2021 season in which he led the majors with 20 wins.
Fried went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 170 strikeouts. He was a first-time All-Star and helped lead the Braves to their fifth straight NL East crown.
Cease went 14-8 and ranked second behind Verlander in the American League with a 2.20 ERA. He had a career-high 227 strikeouts and had 14 consecutive starts this summer without allowing more than one earned run.
Manoah went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in his sophomore season. He struck out 180 and went 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA in his last six starts to help the Blue Jays reach the playoffs.
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