NL Cy Young candidates after the first two months of the season
By Anthony Sosa
Earlier in the week, we looked at some pitchers in the AL that are worthy of Cy Young consideration after the first two months of the season. Next up, NL pitchers that are Cy Young candidates after April and May.
Just like in the AL, plenty of pitchers in the NL have stood out among their peers as the top pitchers so far in the 2017 season. The pitchers that made the AL list only had one previous Cy Young award combined. The NL pitchers that made this list have won five combined.
Last season, the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer earned NL Cy Young honors. He earned the Cy Young for the second time in his career. His first time taking home the hardware happened with the Detroit Tigers in 2013. Scherzer joined Roy Halladay, Gaylord Perry, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers to win the award in both the NL and AL.
The Nationals starter edged out Chicago Cubs lefty Jon Lester by seven points. Scherzer earned 25 of 30 first place votes. Fellow Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks finished in third place. Hendricks owned the best ERA out of the three pitchers (2.13). In fact, Hendricks possessed the best ERA in all of baseball.
Scherzer led the NL in wins with 20. He also led the NL in WHIP (0.968), strikeouts (284), innings pitched (228.1) and bWAR for pitchers (2.6).
But who takes home the award in 2017? Let’s take a look at some pitchers from the NL that currently sport a great case for the NL Cy Young award after the first two months of 2017.