When are the American League and National League Cy Young Awards announced?
The winners of the American League and National League Cy Young Award will be announced on November 17. Finalists will be announced on November 8.
Who will win the American League Cy Young Award?
Robbie Ray will complete one of the strongest turnarounds in recent pitching memory by winning the 2021 American League Cy Young Award. After going just 2-5 in 12 starts for Arizona and Toronto in 2020, Ray returned to the Blue Jays on a one-year, $8 million deal in 2021 and proved that that contract was a bargain.
Ray made an AL-high 32 starts and 193.1 innings last season, going 13-7 and leading AL starters with a 2.84 ERA and striking out a Major League-best 248 batters. His ERA+ of 154 and WHIP of 1.045 are also the best in the American League.
Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees and Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox will likely comprise the other two spots in the AL top three.
UPDATE: Ray won the award, earning 29 of the 30 first-place votes, followed by Cole and Lynn. You can see the ballots and results here.
Who will win the National League Cy Young Award?
The National League Cy Young will likely be given to Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies. A 2.78 ERA in a Major League-best 213.1 innings (with an MLB-best three complete games with two shutouts in there) should be enough to get him the nod. Only Ray struck out more batters this season than Wheeler, who finished one behind his AL counterpart with 247.
Max Scherzer certainly deserves consideration, especially for what he did for the Los Angeles Dodgers after being traded at the deadline by the Washington Nationals, but will likely finish second to Wheeler. Scherzer’s teammate, Walker Buehler, and Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes round out the top NL pitchers of the year.
UPDATE: Burnes was named the winner of the award, edging out Wheeler by just 10 points. Each earned 12 first-place votes in an incredibly close race. You can see the ballots and results here.