Justin Verlander's Badassery Knows No Bounds; AL Cy Young and MVP in the Bag

Is there anything Justin Verlander can't do? Maybe... but probably not.

After winning the American League’s pitching triple crown by going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, the Detroit Tigers right-hander officially became the Most Valuable Player of 2011 on Monday. He's the first pitcher to earn the MVP honor since Dennis Eckersley with the Oakland Athletics in 1992 and the first starting pitcher since Roger Clemens won it with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. It's been a while.

Verlander, who also earned the AL Cy Young Award last week, beat out Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista, New York Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson (Verlander's preference other than himself) and fellow teammate, first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Tough competition for sure, but Verlander's season was not only memorable, it was out of control good.

The 28-year-old tossed his second career no-hitter against the Blue Jays on May 7, and went on to have the winningest season since Bob Welch went 27-6 for the Oakland Athletics back in 1990. His pivotal role in the Tigers' quest for the postseason reopened the heated debate on whether pitchers, who already have their own award, should be considered in the MVP voting at all.

Apparently the debate was not quite strong enough this season, as Verlander received 13 of the possible 28 first-place votes and 280 points over, 38 more points than Ellsbury. He's pretty pumped:

Clayton Kershaw Beats out Roy Halladay for NL Cy Young Award

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Kershaw Beats out Halladay for NL Cy Young

The close vote that was expected for the National League Cy Young Award never happened as Los Angeles left-hander Clayton Kershaw easily outdistanced Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay. Kershaw received 27 of the 32 first-place votes while Halladay got only four first-place votes.

Kershaw becomes the first Los Angeles pitcher to win the Cy Young since Orel Hershiser in 1988 and the eighth Dodger in history to win the award. Kershaw received 207 points which was 74 more than Halladay received. The Phillies’ Cliff Lee finished third in the voting followed by Ian Kennedy of the Diamondbacks. Kershaw led the league in wins with 21, in ERA at 2.28 and in strikeouts with 248. It was a career-best year for Kershaw who started 33 games and pitched 233 1/3 innings. He had three complete games and two shutouts. He was virtually unbeatable in the second half of the season and routinely favored in MLB baseball betting. He went 12-1 with a 1.31 ERA in the second half of the season. Kershaw went up against former NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum four times and the Dodgers beat the Giants in all four of those games.

Triple Crown

Kershaw actually won the Triple Crown of pitching as he had the most wins, lowest ERA and most strikeouts. Never in the history of the Cy Young award has a pitcher not won the Cy Young when he led the league in the Triple Crown categories. Kershaw had a .808 winning percentage this season and since 1956 there have only been six other pitchers who had a winning percentage that high, as low an ERA and as many strikeouts. Kershaw was 21-5 this season and he did that for a Los Angeles team that was basically average as the Dodgers finished 82-79. If you take out Kershaw’s wins the Dodgers would have been awful in MLB baseball betting. And it is not like Kershaw got a lot of help from the Los Angeles offense as the Dodgers scored four runs or less in 11 of his 21 wins.

Historic

Kershaw is off to a historic start to his career. He is just 23 years old and already has 47 wins, a 2.88 ERA and 745 strikeouts. No pitcher in Major League history has ever had that many wins an ERA that low and averaged so many strikeouts at the age of 23.

Clayton Kershaw Wins National League Cy Young Award

Clayton Kershaw is the proud recipient of the 2011 National League Cy Young Award. We all saw this coming.

The 23-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander and his disgusting curveball received 27 of the 32 possible first-place votes from the BBWAA to earn the honor. He snagged the pitching Triple Crown by leading the NL with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts and tying Ian Kennedy for most wins with a 21-5 record. Not bad.

Kershaw, whose previous best for victories was a meager 13, crushed it during the final two months of the season, going 8-0 with a 0.96 ERA over his final nine starts. He was was 5-0 against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, but even more impressive was his 4-0 mark with a ridiculous 0.30 ERA in head-to-head matchups with 2008 and 2009 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Especially badass at Dodger Stadium, he went 12-1 with the lowest home ERA in the big leagues at 1.69.

Justin Verlander Crushes AL Cy Young Award Voting, MVP May be Next

The announcement that Justin Verlander won the American League Cy Young Award on Tuesday was no surprise to anyone, including the BBWAA voters, who were unanimous in their decision. All 28 first-place votes.

His reaction to receiving the honor was met with the question of whether he will also nail the Most Valuable Player Award:

“Do I think it’s possible? Yes. Would I like to win it? Of course. It’s kind of a weird scenario... I'm so different from everybody”

Well, at least he's modest.

No starting pitcher has been named MVP since Roger Clemens back in 1986, with Dennis Eckersley being the the last reliever to get it in 1992. While lots of people believe pitchers shouldn't even be on the MVP ballot since they already have their own award for outstanding performance, seasons like Verlander's might change their tune.

The 28-year-old right-hander (along with his 100mph heater and ridiculous slider and curveball) won the pitching Triple Crown, leading Detroit to its first division title in over two decades with 24 wins, 250 strikeouts, and a nice 2.40 ERA. Not bad.

While that's impressive as hell, the AL MVP crowd includes teammate Miguel Cabrera, along with the likes of former Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jose Bautista.

Oddly enough, Verlander said that if he didn't get the honor, he'd like to see Granderson get it. Not Cabrera.

[Detroit Free Press]

Clayton Kershaw Wants the NL Cy Young Award

Clayton Kershaw has made quite a compelling case for the National League Cy Young Award.

Winning his 21st game of the season Sunday with a 6-2 Los Angeles Dodgers victory over the San Diego Padres, the lefty all but clinched the NL pitching Triple Crown. He leads the league with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts, with just 54 walks on the season and a 21-5 record, tied with Ian Kennedy for wins. What a badass.

Justin Verlander is Out of Control

Just two days after his Detroit Tigers clinched the American League Central title for the first time since 1987, Justin Verlander became the first pitcher in nine years to reach 24 wins.

Completing his 12th straight victory in as many starts, the high-velocity ace improved to 24-5 with his team's 3-0 win over the Oakland Athletics Sunday, lowering his ERA to 2.29 with a total of 244 strikeouts on the season. You think that's good? He has a 2.28 ERA with 91 K's in 87 innings over his streak. Surrendering just three measly hits over eight impeccable innings, Verlander extended his scoreless streak to 17 innings.

Cliff Lee Must Be Wooed

Ever heard the expression, "Never bring a knife to a gun fight?"

That may be what Texas Rangers owner Chuck Greenburg is doing with his team's "multiple substantial" offers to Cliff Lee in an attempt to keep him in Arlington. At one point, they asked him what it would take for him to stay. Unfortunately, Clifton Lee must be wooed.

So Greenburg, along with assistant general manager Thad Levine and co-chairman Ray Davis, met with Lee, the pitcher’s wife and his agent, Darek Braunecker, at Braunecker’s office Thursday night. While Greenburg refused to divulge the details, he called his team "highly competitive." But are they competitive enough?

Tim Lincecum: Your Best Fantasy Bet

It was a close call, but the San Francisco Giants and Tim Lincecum have reached a preliminary agreement on a $23 million, two-year contract.

This is pretty great news for Timmy, but even better news for fantasy owners since the righty phenom can finally concentrate on his skills to pay the bills, rather than how he's going to pay for all that sweet ganja the bills.

Avoiding an embarrassing arbitration hearing which was set for Friday afternoon, the San Francisco Giants have given their 25-year-old phenom what he deserved: a Giant raise from the measly $650,000 he made last season.

Continue reading and comment on this story at SportsUntapped.

Roy Halladay Will Sorta Miss Canada

Roy Halladay loved his (devastated) Blue Jays fans so much that he gave them a thank you card in the form of a full-page newspaper advertisement this Tuesday.

[warm fuzzies]

After 12 seasons with Toronto, the 2003 Cy Young Award Winner was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-team blockbuster last week. In the ad, Halladay said he felt "blessed" to have been an honorary Canadian since being drafted by the Jays in 1995.

"Toronto will forever have a special place in my heart. The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude."

In his career as a Blue Jay, Doc went 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA.

[ESPN] | [Mop Up Duty] | [NESN]

Tim Lincecum Wins Cy Young #2

Tim Lincecum has earned his second consecutive National League Cy Young Award after yet another dominating season on the mound.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Sports Untapped.

You've Come A Long Way, Zack Greinke

Awards season continues with the American League Cy Young announced this afternoon. Hopefully none of you were surprised when it was given to the only logical pitcher: Mr. Badass himself, Zack Greinke. Man, we love this kid.

The Kansas City Royals right-hander deserved this honor more than anyone -- even lights out righty Felix Hernandez, who took second in the voting. Greinke was shorter on wins than your average 19-21 game winners of the past, but his season was chock-full of domination. He and his damn-near unhittable slider went 16-8 with a big league-best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts. For the sake of comparison, King Felix went 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA for the Seattle Mariners.

Greinke, who is getting hitched this weekend, agreed to a $38 million, four-year contract last winter and will receive a $100,000 bonus for winning. He landed 25 of 28 first-place votes for 134 points by the BBWAA while Hernandez drew 80 points with mostly second-place votes.

The humble and silent but deadly hurler quit the game for a month-and-a-half back in 2006 due to a social anxiety disorder. He has since made the cover of Sports Illustrated, was selected to the 2009 All-Star team, received the 2009 Bullet Rogan award, and also the player's choice Pitcher of the Year honor.

Funny, some folks in KC didn't get the memo. Be sure to check back tomorrow when the National League winner is announced. We hope that honor goes to the most adorable pothead in MLB, though it'll likely be handed to one of two St. Louis Cardinals hurlers.

[KC Star] | [Walkoff Walk] | [Kings of Kauffman]

Tim Lincecum Won A Cy Young... On Weed Man

Update: Make that two Cy Youngs... on weed man. IN A ROW!

Surprise! Little Timmy is a stoner.

The San Francisco Giants ace was pulled over Friday going 74 mph on Interstate 5 -- where the speed limit is 60 -- near Vancouver, Washington. He was going to be cited for speeding anyway before the officer smelled pot when Little Timmy rolled down the window.

I like to imagine a huge cloud of smoke rolling out of the car, myself.

According to the state trooper who busted him, the Cy Young Award winner forked over an 1/8 bag and a pipe. He was ticketed and released, and is scheduled to be arraigned November 23 in Clark County District Court.

Umm... we all saw this one coming, right? Right. MLB odds are, we will see the obligatory "crappy role model" public apology soon.

[San Francisco Chronicle]

Zack Greinke is a Bad Ass

Zack Greinke would have -- at the very least -- 20 wins by now if he pitched for a team that would give him a decent amount of run support. Unfortunately, such is not the case for anyone in the 63-88 Kansas City Royals rotation.

Nevertheless, the lights-out right-hander reinforced his Cy Young bid by holding the Boston Red Sox to just two hits over six scoreless innings Tuesday night, aiding his team to a rare 5-1 victory.

Greinke (15-8) is 3-0 with a minuscule 0.26 ERA in his five most recent starts, surrendering 18 hits and just one earned run over 35 innings, while lowering his big league-leading ERA to 2.08. Man, what a badass.

Manager Trey Hillman admitted his bias, "I’ve seen all his starts. I have a very difficult time believing there is anybody better in the major leagues, that’s as good a pitcher as Zack Greinke is in the year 2009."

Lincecum Lights Up the Pirates

Just when you think Little Timmy can't get much better, he strikes out a career-high fifteen batters. Of course, he was kinda bullied into it. Former San Francisco Giants teammate and all-time Home Run King Barry Bonds stopped Lincecum before the game and threatened:

Beat my old team or I’ll beat you.

Yikes.

The 25-year-old flame-throwing righty pitched a four-hitter Monday night on the heels on a crappy 3-7 road trip to bring his record to 11-3 and lower his ERA to 2.30. The team's 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates was a welcome sight, with Lincecum rebounding from a loss to the Atlanta Braves on the 22nd where he was roughed up over five innings for four runs on seven hits with two walks. Nevertheless, he struck out nine that game.

Little Timmy Man-Handles Cardinals

Holy smokes.

Tim Lincecum (I think I'm in love) led his San Francisco Giants to a 10-0 victory Monday night, striking out eight St. Louis Cardinals over nine shutout innings. He walked none and allowed just two hits, dropping his ERA to 2.37 and earning his eighth win of the season. The Freak leads the pack in strikeouts with 132 already, which is seven ahead of the next guy, Atlanta Braves righty Javier Vazquez.

Travis Ishikawa lent his bat to the Cardinals' sixth loss in their last eight games with a three-run shot in the third inning off starter Brad Thompson. This put the Giants ahead 4-0 before they busted the sucker wide open with a five-run seventh off stunned rookie Clayton Mortensen in his major league debut. Welcome to the big leagues, buddy.

Congratulations, Little Buddy!

Babes Love Baseball would like to congratulate Tim Lincecum on winning the 2008 NL Cy Young award! This little guy beat out the likes of Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Brad Lidge, and Ryan Dempster. He's just 24 and just finished his second year in the big leagues and already he's securing his spot in bad-ass pitcher history.

I happened to get to see him pitch in 2007 against Milwaukee. I had never heard of this guy who was destroying the Brewers that day. He looked as though he was 12 years old and I was like WHO is this guy? He's going to be awesome.

Turns out, I was right. Way to go Li'l Timmy!