Why Corey Kluber should win the American League Cy Young Award
With the Wednesday announcement of baseball's Cy Young Awards, Paste BN Sports breaks down the cases for the three American League finalists:
The case for Corey Kluber
Kluber, the winner of the award in 2014, had the finest season of his career in 2017. He was the ace behind a Cleveland Indians club that won an AL-best 102 games and an MLB-record 22 straight games. The right-hander led the majors with a 2.25 ERA, going 18-4 with 265 strikeouts and a career-best 7.35 K/BB ratio. But, it was his performance after he returned from the disabled list on June 1 that solidified his season. Over his final 23 starts, he went 15-2 with a 1.62 ERA, accumulating 224 strikeouts against 23 walks.
The case for Chris Sale
Sale has been in the hunt for the elusive award in the last five years, finishing in the top five in four of those years. The dominating lefty didn't disappoint in his first season with the Boston Red Sox. He went 17-8 with 2.90 ERA and a career-high 12.9 K/9 -- the third-best K/9 rate among starting pitchers in MLB history -- over an AL-high 214 1/3 innings.
The case for Luis Severino
Severino had a breakout season in 2017. In his first full season in the majors, the New York Yankees right-hander ranked in top five in AL in strikeouts (230), ERA (2.98) and WHIP (1.040). He went 14-6 and finished with a 10.71 K/9 rate -- the highest in Yankees history for a starter.
X factors
Sale's strikeout total of 308 was very impressive and was 43 more than Kluber. He also tossed 11 1/3 more innings than Kluber. But, Kluber missed time on the disabled list with a lower back injury. Kluber had five complete games to Sale's one, and on average he's gone deeper in his starts.
Winning time
Ultimately, it's a two-man race between Kluber and Sale. But in the end, Kluber will become the 19th pitcher in baseball history to win the honor at least twice.
Gallery: Recent Cy Young winners