The various writers around SBNation have spoken, and Justin Verlander will be the American League Cy Young Award this season. You can put it in the bank. With 22 of 24 first place votes, Verlander trounced his competition this season, even resurrecting the endless "Pitcher for MVP?" debate.
Verlander led the league in wins (24), win percentage (.828), innings pitches (251), strikeouts (250), WHIP (0.920), ERA (2.40), ERA+ (170), rWAR (8.6), hits per 9 IP (6.239), games started (34) and Baseball Reference RE24, REW and WPA/LI. He ranked second to CC Sabathia in fWAR and won the American League pitching triple crown, becoming the 37th pitcher ever (12th since 1945) to accomplish the feat. Oh, and he will be on the cover of MLB 2k12 next season as well.
Needless to say, Verlander is the landslide winner and will be next Tuesday when BBWAA announces their selection.
| Num | Name | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Verlander | 22 | 2 | - | - | - | 162 |
| 2 | CC Sabathia | 2 | 17 | 4 | 1 | - | 96 |
| 3 | Jered Weaver | - | 5 | 10 | 4 | - | 58 |
| 4 | James Shields | - | - | 3 | 8 | 6 | 31 |
| 5 | C.J. Wilson | - | - | 4 | 4 | 5 | 25 |
| 6 | Dan Haren | - | - | 3 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 7 | Josh Beckett | - | - | - | - | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | David Price | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| 9 | Jon Lester | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon McCarthy | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Mariano Rivera | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Doug Fister | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Gio Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
There was a pretty clear delineation between 2nd place (Sabathia) and 3rd place (Jered Weaver). Nearly all agreed with James Shields, CJ Wilson and Dan Haren being the next three best pitchers this season, followed by eight others with a few supporters.
Purple Row's staff vote after the jump.
Unsurprisingly, the staff vote closely mirrored the SBNation vote, with Verlander being our unanimous winner. Votes were counted on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale, as voted on by Andrew Martin, Bryan Kilpatrick, Jeff Aberle, Greg Stanwood and myself.
| 2011 AL Cy Young | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points |
| Justin Verlander | 5 | - | - | - | - | 25 |
| C.C. Sabathia | - | 3 | 2 | - | - | 18 |
| Jered Weaver | - | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 14 |
| Dan Haren | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| C.J. Wilson | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| James Shields | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Felix Hernandez | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |