Justin Verlander can add another Cy Young plaque to his mantle.
The former Astro won his third Cy Young award unanimously Wednesday as the 39-year-old is coming off of what may be the best season of his Hall of Fame Career. This is his second Cy Young with Houston, the first coming in 2019. Astros pitcher Framber Valdez finished fifth in Cy Young voting.
Verlander joins a list of only 11 pitchers to win three Cy Young awards in their career, while Verlander and Sandy Koufax are the only pitchers to have three Cy Youngs and three no-hitters.
Verlander held an 18-4 regular season record with a league-leading 1.75 ERA, 116 hits, 34 earned runs, and 185 strikeouts. The nine-time All-Star also led the AL in WHIP with .829 and his win percentage at .818.
What makes Verlander’s numbers even more impressive is the fact that he is coming off of Tommy John Surgery and prior to 2022, hadn’t pitched since the 2020 season opener. Verlander finished with 210 votes, including 30 first-place votes.
The second-place finisher was Chicago’s Dylan Cease, who finished with 97 total votes.