The MLB CY Young award is given out to the best pitcher from each league at the end of every regular season. The 3 names on this list are a repeat of the same 3 guys from last month’s edition, showing the true dominance from these 3 pitchers.
Justin Verlander, SP, Houston Astros
W-L Record: 16-3
ERA: 1.84
Innings Pitched: 152.0
WHIP: 0.86
Strikeouts: 154
WAR: 4.7
Nobody expected for Justin Verlander to come back from his injury with the hot start that he did. Nobody expected Verlander to continue his dominant start all the way into September. But here we are, in the beginning of September and Justin Verlander is almost certainly the top pitcher in baseball. He is nearing the age of 40 and his fastball still routinely sits in the mid to upper 90s, dominating opposing hitters. His ERA (1.84) and his WHIP (0.86) both rank best in the league. He has firmly placed the Astros among the best teams and best pitching staffs in the entire MLB.
Dylan Cease, SP, Chicago White Sox
W-L Record: 12-6
ERA: 2.27
Innings Pitched: 147.0
WHIP: 1.12
Strikeouts: 190
WAR: 4.8
Dylan Cease finally proved to be human, as he suffered 3 consecutive starts where he allowed at least 2 runs. These are the first starts where he has allowed multiple runs since May 24th. He only allowed 16 hits in his 30+ innings for the month of August. He ran into problems when it came to the home run. Cease allowed 11 runs in August, 7 of them being surrendered on the 5 home runs that he allowed in the month. In July, he only allowed 3 runs, all of which were the result of 3 solo home runs. Cease has been dominant, but he will need a tremendous September in order to bring the AL CY Young trophy back to the Windy City.
Shane McClanahan, SP, Tampa Bay Rays
W-L Record: 11-5
ERA: 2.20
Innings Pitched: 147.33
WHIP: 0.86
Strikeouts: 182
WAR: 3.8
Shane McClanahan has been absolutely dominant for a majority of this season. The first thing to note when talking about him though, is his recent injury (still unspecified) that he suffered before his start on 8/30. Depending on the severity of the injury, his likelihood of being a potential CY Young winner could change. A severe injury would almost completely wipe him out of the race, but a short term, one or two start injury, would leave the door open for a good finish from him. Hopefully the scratch from his most recent start is just for precautionary reasons. McClanahan has the potential to finish the season with a sub-0.90 WHIP and 200 strikeouts, both tremendous numbers for a full season.
Prediction: Justin Verlander, SP, Houston Astros
The AL CY Young is Justin Verlander. He also won the CY Young award in his last fully healthy season (2019). In 2018, he finished second in the AL CY Young voting. If he takes home the 2022 AL CY Young award, it would be his 3rd career CY Young and the 11th time that he has received votes for the award in his illustrious career. Verlander is giving father time a run for his money dominating baseball for 17 years, with much more left in the tank. There seems to be no sign of slowing up and a 2022 CY Young award will confirm that Verlander could dominate for a few more seasons, at the very least.
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