Major League Baseball is set to reveal the American League and National League Cy Young Award winners Wednesday night and after great years from all six award hopefuls, it will be a memorable evening for two of them.
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On the AL side, the Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox's Chris Sale battle it out.
Elsewhere, Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals) and Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati Reds) duke it out for NL honors.
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Hernandez, 28, is looking for his second Cy Young Award and his first since 2010. Hernandez went 15-6 in 2014 with an AL-best and career-best 2.14 ERA while leading the AL in WHIP (0.92) and batting average allowed (.200) and finishing fourth with 248 strikeouts.
Kluber, 28, is looking for his first-career Cy Young Award after tying for the AL lead with 18 wins and losing just nine games in 34 starts. Kluber finished second in the AL with 269 strikeouts and third with a 2.44 ERA. The Indians starter also tossed three complete games this season.
Sale, 25, is also in the hunt for his first Cy Young Award after a solid 2014 campaign. Sale went 12-4 in 26 games last season while ranking second in the AL with a 2.17 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Sale held his opponents to a .205 batting average and was tops in the league with 10.96 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Pick: This race is certainly more intriguing than the NL side and a case could be made for all three of these starters, however at the end of the day Felix should be "King" when it comes to the AL Cy Young.
Kershaw, 26, is looking to notch his third Cy Young Award -- and second in two years -- and he enters as the overwhelming favorite to win the honor. Kershaw is coming off of a season where he led the entire MLB with 21 wins, a 1.77 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP, 10.85 strikeouts per nine innings and six complete games. The southpaw also led all NL players with a 7.5 WAR. Kershaw is looking to become the first NL pitcher since 1968 to take home the Cy Young and MVP Awards.
Wainwright, 33, is hoping for his first Cy Young Award and is coming off of a great year with the Cardinals. Wainwright went 20-9, with his 20 wins ranking tied for second in the NL, and he finished third in ERA (2.38) and WHIP (1.03). Wainwright held his opponents to a .222 batting average in 227 innings pitched while tossing five complete games and three shutouts.
Cueto, 28, is also in search of his first Cy Young Award victory. Cueto led the entire MLB with a .194 batting average allowed and 6.24 hits per nine innings. Cueto also led the NL with 242 strikeouts and 243.2 innings pitched. The Reds ace also finished second in the NL in ERA (2.25), wins (20-tied) and WHIP (0.96).
The Pick: In any other year, Wainwright and Cueto would be taking home some hardware, but Kershaw was just so dominant in nearly every statistical category for a starting pitcher and will take home his third Cy Young Award. The fact that he is up for an MVP Award gives away the fact that he was the best pitcher in the NL, if not the entire MLB.
The MLB will announce the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET.
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