(PhatzRadio Sports / AP) — Max Scherzer heard his name and thrust his arms in the air, shouting and smiling big before turning to kiss his wife.
Corey Kluber, on the other hand, gulped once and blinked.
Two aces, two different styles — and now another Cy Young Award for each.
The animated Scherzer of the Washington Nationals coasted to his third Cy Young, winning Wednesday for the second straight year in the National League. He breezed past Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, drawing 27 of the 30 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Kluber’s win was even more of a runaway. The Cleveland Indians ace took 28 first-place votes, easily outpacing Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox for his second AL Cy Young.
Scherzer yelled “yes!” when his award was announced on MLB Network, a reaction in keeping with his expressive reputation. He showed that intensity often this year, whether he was cursing under his breath like a madman during his delivery or demanding — also with expletives — that manager Dusty Baker leave him in the game.
Just a little different than the pitcher they call “Klubot.” Kluber was stoic as ever when announced as the AL winner. He swallowed hard but otherwise didn’t react, only showing the hint of a smile moments later when answering questions.
Not that he wasn’t thrilled.
“Winning a second one maybe, for me personally, kind of validates the first one,” Kluber said.
Scherzer’s win moves him into rare company. He’s the 10th pitcher with at least three Cy Youngs, and among the other nine, only Kershaw and Roger Clemens aren’t in the Hall of Fame.
“That’s why I’m drinking a lot of champagne tonight,” Scherzer said.
Scherzer earned the NL honor last year with Washington and the 2013 American League prize with Detroit.
“This one is special,” he said. “When you start talking about winning three times, I can’t even comprehend it at this point.”
Scherzer was 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA this year. The 33-year-old righty struck out a league-leading 268 for the NL East champion Nationals, and in an era noted for declining pitcher durability, he eclipsed 200 innings for the fifth straight season. He had to overcome a variety of ailments to get there, and Washington’s training staff was high on his thank-you list.
“Everybody had a role in keeping me out on the field,” he said. “I’m very thankful for all their hard work.”
Kershaw has won three NL Cy Youngs and was the last pitcher to win back-to-back. He was 18-4 with a league-best 2.31 ERA and 202 strikeouts. This is his second runner-up finish. Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals finished third.
Kluber missed a month of the season with back pain and still easily won the AL award over Sale and third-place finisher Luis Severino of the New York Yankees. Kluber led the majors with a 2.25 ERA, and his 18 wins tied for the most in baseball. He added to the Cy Young he won with the Indians in 2014 and is the 19th pitcher to win multiple times.
The 31-year-old Kluber was especially dominant down the stretch, closing out the season by going 11-1 to help Cleveland win the AL Central. He and Minnesota’s Ervin Santana tied for the major league lead with five complete games — nobody else had more than two. Kluber also led the majors with 8.0 wins above replacement, per baseball-reference.com.
Kluber and Scherzer both had rough outings in the playoffs. Kluber gave up nine runs over two starts in an AL Division Series against the Yankees, and Scherzer blew a save in the decisive Game 5 of an NL Division Series against the Cubs.
Scherzer said he couldn’t even watch the League Championship Series, although he did tune in for the World Series.
“That will eat at me this whole offseason,” he said.
Voting for the awards was completed before the postseason began.
The final BBWAA honors will come Thursday when the MVP awards are announced in the AL and NL.
___
MLB ROOKIES OF THE YEAR 2017
Aaron Judge began the year just hoping to have a locker in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse.
He ends it with his own rooting section in right field, a strong celebrity profile, a rookie-record 52 home runs – and the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Judge, the 6-foot-7, 25-year-old slugger whose “Judge’s Chambers” became a Bronx fixture as he kept pounding home runs, on Monday was named the first unanimous AL rookie winner since the Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu in 2014. He received all 15 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America. Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi received 23 of 30 second-place votes, while Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini finished third.
He also becomes the first Yankee to win the award since Derek Jeter in 1996. While Judge has a long way to go to match the Cooperstown-bound shortstop’s two decades of accomplishments, there were times in his rookie year that Judge proved able to handle the spotlight with Jeter’s aplomb.
Even for a guy rightfully concerned he wouldn’t make the club out of spring training.
“I’m still sitting back trying to think of what all happened this year,” Judge said in a conference call Monday evening. “From battling in spring training, to the highs and lows all year, to the playoffs and coming up short. It’s nothing I ever could have dreamed about. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
“The highs and lows mold you. It was an incredible year.”
At times, Judge made it look easy.
Judge hit the All-Star break with 30 home runs, and commanded significant attention at the Midsummer Classic. The buzz continued after Judge won the Home Run Derby at Marlins Park, but a cold streak dogged the strikeout-prone slugger – he fanned 208 times in 2017- through much of July and August. In one 20-game stretch, he struck out 37 times while batting just .171.
But Judge got hot again, hitting 15 homers in his final 27 games to zoom past Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 homers set in 1987. The Yankees, meanwhile, won the wild card game against Minnesota and came within one win of their first World Series appearance since 2009.
They’ll try again next year – when Judge will have a solid idea that he’ll make the squad from the get-go.
___
For the first time since they captured five consecutive National League Rookie of the Year awards from 1992-96, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the top rookie award back-to-back.
Monday, it was Cody Bellinger following in Corey Seager’s footsteps, a core that figures to position the Dodgers at the top of the NL for years to come.
Bellinger, like Seager, captured the award in unanimous fashion, after slugging an NL rookie record 39 home runs – a feat he pulled off despite not making his major league debut until April 25.
Now, he’s the 18th Dodger to earn top rookie honors – a group that began with Jackie Robinson, the man for whom the rookie award is now named.
“It’s a huge honor,” Bellinger said in a TV interview after earning the award. “Now that the season’s over, I’m really trying to reflect how crazy this season was. To top it off and be part of those big-name guys is really special.”
Bellinger received all 30 first-place votes – Kris Bryant and Seager make it three consecutive unanimous NL winners – to outpoint St. Louis shortstop Paul DeJong (56 total points) and Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell (32).
A fourth-round pick in 2013 and the son of former major league utilityman Clay Bellinger, the Dodgers first baseman reached 21 home runs in 51 games, faster than anyone to start a major league career. Bellinger reached the All-Star break with 25 home runs, and the Dodgers raced out to a 91-36 start.
Both player and team saw their rolls slowed in August, when Bellinger suffered an ankle injury and the Dodgers began a skid of 16 losses in 17 games.
Bellinger – and Seager, as well – returned from injury and the Dodgers steadied themselves, all the way to their first World Series since 1988.
That’s a feat never achieved by the Dodger quintet that owned the NL rookie award in the early ’90s – Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo and Todd Hollandsworth.
That core began dismantling in 1998, when Piazza was traded away. The Dodgers need not worry about their new core for a while: Bellinger and Seager will be around through at least 2021.
Bellinger says the Dodgers’ seven-game loss to the Houston Astros in the World Series was “pretty exhausting,” although he doesn’t anticipate a Dodgers hangover in 2018.
“The taste in everyone’s mouth after we lost was definitely sour,” Bellinger said on a conference call. “Obviously the young guys are hungry, and those (more experienced) guys are hungry. It’s going to be a fun year.”