Porcello had never received a Cy Young Award vote in any previous election over seven seasons. It marked the seventh time a Red Sox pitcher was honored. The others: Roger Clemens in 1986, ’87 and ’91; Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000 and Jim Lonborg in 1967.
The five-point differential is the second closest of any election since ballots permitted voting for more than one pitcher in 1970. Verlander, who was not listed on two ballots, also finished second in the 2012 election to the Tampa Bay Rays’ David Price, 153-149. Three pitchers were on ballots from 1970 through 2009 and five since 2010. The only tie in Cy Young Award voting occurred in 1969 between the Baltimore Orioles’ Mike Cuellar and the Detroit Tigers’ Denny McLain, the last year when voters could select only one pitcher.
This election marked only the third time that a pitcher won a Cy Young Award without receiving the most first-place votes, the first time in the AL and by the widest margin overall. It occurred twice in the National League. In 1998, the Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine won by a 99-88 score over the San Diego Padres’ Trevor Hoffman, who had more first-place votes, 13-11. In 2009, the San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, one fewer than the St. Louis Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright, but won the election with 100 points to 94 for the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter, who had nine first-place votes, and 90 for Wainwright.
Porcello and Kluber were the only pitchers named on every ballot.
Ballots from two writers in each league city prior to postseason play are tabulated on a system that rewards seven points for first place, four points for second place, three points for third place, two votes for fourth place and one point for fifth place.
2016 AL Cy Young
Pitcher, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rick Porcello, Red Sox | 8 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 137 |
Justin Verlander, Tigers | 14 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 132 |
Corey Kluber, Indians | 3 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 98 |
Zach Britton, Orioles | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 72 |
Chris Sale, White Sox | 1 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 40 | |
J.A. Happ, Blue Jays | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | ||
Aaron Sanchez, Blue Jays | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees | 1 | 4 | 6 | |||
Andrew Miller, Yankees/Indians | 1 | 3 | ||||
Michael Fulmer, Tigers | 1 | 1 | ||||
Jose Quintana, White Sox | 1 | 1 |
Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the American League. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.
2016 AL Cy Young
Name | Affiliation | Chapter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roch Kubatko | MASNsports.com | BAL | Britton | Porcello | Kluber | Verlander | Sale |
Rich Dubroff | CSNmidatlantic.com | BAL | Britton | Porcello | Verlander | Kluber | Sale |
Christopher Smith | Springfield Republican | BOS | Porcello | Verlander | Kluber | Britton | Happ |
Ian Browne | MLB.com | BOS | Verlander | Porcello | Sale | Kluber | Britton |
Dan Hayes | Comcast SportsNet Chicago | CHI | Verlander | Porcello | Sale | Kluber | Britton |
Scot Gregor | Daily Herald | CHI | Kluber | Porcello | Happ | Britton | Verlander |
Zack Meisel | Cleveland.com | CLE | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Tanaka |
Jordan Bastian | MLB.com | CLE | Verlander | Sale | Porcello | Kluber | Quintana |
Chris McCosky | The Detroit News | DET | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Britton |
Anthony Fenech | Detroit Free Press | DET | Verlander | Porcello | Sale | Kluber | Britton |
Jake Kaplan | Houston Chronicle | HOU | Verlander | Kluber | Porcello | Sale | Tanaka |
MoiseKapenda Bower | The Sports Xchange | HOU | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Britton |
Sam Mellinger | Kansas City Star | KC | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Britton |
Jeffrey Flanagan | MLB.com | KC | Kluber | Porcello | Verlander | Sale | Fulmer |
Tim Brown | Yahoo Sports | LA | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Verlander | Britton |
Mark Whicker | Los Angeles Daily News | LA | Britton | Porcello | Verlander | Kluber | Sanchez |
Mike Berardino | St. Paul Pioneer Press | MIN | Verlander | Britton | Miller | Kluber | Porcello |
La Velle Neal III | Minneapolis Star Tribune | MIN | Kluber | Porcello | Verlander | Happ | Sale |
Pete Caldera | Bergen Record | NY | Porcello | Kluber | Happ | Britton | Verlander |
Wallace Matthews | ESPN.com | NY | Porcello | Britton | Kluber | Verlander | Sale |
John Shea | San Francisco Chronicle | OAK | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Britton | Tanaka |
Joe Stiglich | CSN Bay Area | OAK | Britton | Porcello | Verlander | Kluber | Sale |
Ryan Divish | Seattle Times | SEA | Porcello | Verlander | Kluber | Sale | Britton |
John McGrath | Tacoma News Tribune | SEA | Britton | Porcello | Kluber | Happ | Verlander |
Fred Goodall | Associated Press | TB | Porcello | Kluber | Happ | Britton | Sanchez |
Bill Chastain | MLB.com | TB | Porcello | Britton | Kluber | Sale | Tanaka |
Gerry Fraley | Dallas Morning News | TEX | Porcello | Kluber | Britton | Verlander | Sanchez |
Jeff Wilson | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | TEX | Verlander | Porcello | Kluber | Sale | Britton |
Shi Davidi | Sportsnet | TOR | Verlander | Kluber | Britton | Porcello | Sale |
Brendan Kennedy | Toronto Star | TOR | Verlander | Porcello | Sanchez | Tanaka | Kluber |