Rays’ Blake Snell wins tight race for AL Cy Young

Photo by Will Vragovic / Tampa Bay Rays

Blake Snell is the second Tampa Bay Rays pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. David Price won the award in 2012.

Snell’s 180 2/3 innings pitched were the fewest for a Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher in a full season.

Verlander, who won the award in 2011, became the fourth pitcher to finish second in the balloting three times. He was also the runner-up in the AL in 2012 and 2016. The other three-time runners-up were Warren Spahn, the 1957 NL winner who finished second in 1958, 1960 and 1961; Randy Johnson, a five-time winner (1995 in the AL and 1999-2002 in the NL) who finished second in the AL in 1993 and 1997 and in the NL in 2004, and Curt Schilling, who never won the award but was the runner-up in the NL in 2001 and 2002 and in the AL in 2004.

Snell and Verlander were the only pitchers named on every ballot.

Ballots, submitted prior to postseason play, were cast by two writers in each league city. They 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.

2018 AL Cy Young

Player, Team1st2nd3rd4th5thPoints
Blake Snell, Rays17112169
Justin Verlander, Astros131331154
Corey Kluber, Indians4127571
Chris Sale, Red Sox2812359
Gerrit Cole, Astros34926
Trevor Bauer, Indians13413
Blake Treinen, Athletics13413
Edwin Diaz, Mariners44
Luis Severino, Yankees11

Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the American League. Note that in some cases (*), if there are not enough eligible voters in one chapter, a voter from another chapter will represent that city. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.

NameAffiliationChapter1st2nd3rd4th5th
Brittany GhiroliMLB.comBALSnellVerlanderKluberSaleBauer
David GinsburgAssociated PressBALVerlanderSnellKluberSaleCole
Jason MastrodonatoBoston HeraldBOSSnellVerlanderKluberSaleTreinen
Peter AbrahamBoston GlobeBOSSnellVelanderKluberBauerSale
James FeganThe AthleticCHIVerlanderSnellSaleKluberCole
Paul SullivanChicago TribuneCHISnellKluberVerlanderSaleCole
Anthony CastrovinceMLB.comCLEVerlanderSnellKluberSaleBauer
Jim IngrahamElyria ChronicleCLEVerlanderKluberSnellColeSale
Anthony FenechDetroit Free PressDETVerlanderSnellColeKluberDiaz
Chris McCoskyDetroit NewsDETVerlanderSnellKluberSaleCole
Kristie RiekenThe Associated PressHOUVerlanderSnellSaleColeKluber
Richard JusticeMLB.comHOUVerlanderSnellColeSaleBauer
David BrownBaseball ProspectusKCVerlanderSnellSaleBauerKluber
Samuel J. MellingerKansas City StarKCVerlanderSnellBauerSaleKluber
Tim BrownYahoo SportsLAVerlanderSnellSaleKluberCole
Yuichi MatsushitaKyodo NewsLASnellVerlanderKluberSaleTreinen
La Velle E. Neal IIIMinneapolis Star TribuneMINSnellVerlanderKluberTreinenSale
Mike BerardinoSt. Paul Pioneer PressMINVerlanderSaleSnellColeBauer
Erik BolandNewsdayNYSnellVerlanderSaleKluberCole
George A. King IIINew York PostNYSnellSaleVerlanderKluberDiaz
Janie McCauleyThe Associated PressOAKSnellVerlanderKluberSaleTreinen
John SheaSan Francisco ChronicleOAKSnellVerlanderKluberTreinenCole
Greg JohnsMLB.comSEASnellVerlanderKluberSaleCole
Jeff SullivanFanGraphsSEAVerlanderSnellColeTreinenKluber
Bill MaddenNew York Daily News*TBSnellKluberTreinenVerlanderSeverino
Mark DidtlerAP Freelance WriterTBSnellKluberVerlanderSaleTreinen
Levi WeaverThe AthleticTEXSnellVerlanderSaleKluberDiaz
TR SullivanMLB.ComTEXSnellVerlanderKluberColeDiaz
Gregor ChisholmMLB.comTORSnellVerlanderSaleBauerKluber
Rob LongleyToronto SunTORSnellVerlanderSaleKluberCole