The American League and National League Cy Young results were announced on Wednesday, with Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander taking home the honors in the AL and Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcántara receiving the award in the NL. For the first time in 58 years, the Cy Young Award was decided unanimously in both leagues.
Verlander was followed in the voting by Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah, and Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
And Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register provided an incredible statistical factoid about Ohtani.
Ohtani has hit a home run against all three pitchers — Verlander, Cease, and Manoah — ahead of him in the AL Cy Young voting.
Shohei Ohtani finished 4th in the AL Cy Young voting.
(Also, he has hit HRs against all of three of the guys ahead of him.) pic.twitter.com/ILibFOH3Ab
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) November 17, 2022
Ohtani also hit a homerun against Verlander, that was fun pic.twitter.com/WGbN2k7Em3
— shobae 大谷翔平 ¹⁷ Ohtani Shohei ¹⁷ 🧘♀️ (@shoheisaveus) April 9, 2022
Shohei Ohtani is batting second and pitching tonight. This is why: pic.twitter.com/mdKaufcrJF
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 5, 2021
#38 for Shohei Ohtani. That was his first home run in two weeks. This one left his bat at 105.6 mph and traveled 413 feet.
We have a tie game. pic.twitter.com/NuUIZkUVGZ
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) August 12, 2021
Ridiculous.
We can debate who should get this and that awards-wise, but this tidbit is a reminder that Ohtani’s brilliance is in its own territory.
Ohtani won the 2021 AL MVP and is likely to finish second in the voting behind New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge; the winner will be announced on Thursday.
In 2022, Ohtani put together a 2.33 ERA and 2.40 FIP over 166 innings on the mound, while being valued at 6.2 wins above replacement (WAR) per Baseball Reference. Offensively, Ohtani blasted 34 home runs — after 46 in 2021 — and put together an .875 OPS, while being valued at 3.4 WAR per Baseball Reference.
He’s a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
