Central Dominance: All three AL Cy Young Award finalists reside in the same division

On Monday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the finalists for each of baseball's major awards, including the AL Cy Young Award. The most notable part about the selections was that all three finalists reside in the same division: the AL Central. Those finalists are Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, and Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo.

Skubal had an 18-4 record, a 2.39 ERA, and is the clear favorite to win following his breakout season. Clase is the first reliever to be a Cy Young finalist since 2008, when Francisco Rodriguez was the closer for the Los Angeles Angels. Clase's candidacy will be hindered by his role, but he has a legitimate chance to win thanks to his 0.61 ERA and 47 saves. Lugo had his best season in his nine-year MLB career, but he seems likely to finish a distant third with his 16-9 record and 3.00 ERA.

The last time all three Cy Young finalists were in the same division was in 2018 in the National League. That season’s finalists were Jacob DeGrom (New York Mets), Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies), and Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals). DeGrom won the award that season with an underwhelming 10-9 record, but an astounding 1.70 ERA. At the time, that was the sixth-best ERA since the mound was lowered in 1969.

There were three other instances in the last 10 years where award finalists were in the same division. The first occurrence was for the NL Manager of the Year award in 2017. That race included Colorado Rockies skipper Bud Black, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, and Arizona Diamondbacks leader Torey Lovulio, who won the honors.

The second instance was in 2019, as the AL MVP finalists were Alex Bregman (Houston Astros), Marcus Semien (Oakland Athletics), and Mike Trout (L.A. Angels). Trout won the award for the third time in his career that season.

The third occurrence was in last year’s AL MVP race between the Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani, who won the honor, and a pair of Texas Rangers infielders (Corey Seager and Semien). Both Rangers had appeared on MVP finalist lists prior to 2023, though they had done so with different teams.

This rare occurrence is going to build on the rivalry aspect of the AL Central and make the race to the top of the division a must-watch event in 2025. The Tigers and Royals both made big improvements with young players and broke multi-year postseason droughts. The Guardians found themselves back in the playoffs after a down 2023 season, falling to the Yankees in ALCS. Expect their stars to continue showing up as award finalists for the foreseeable future.

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