Reds’ Trevor Bauer, Indians’ Shane Bieber win Cy Young awards

Nov. 11 (UPI) — Cincinnati Reds ace Trevor Bauer and Cleveland Indians rising star Shane Bieber on Wednesday were named this year’s Cy Young Award winners.

Bauer became the first National League Cy Young Award winner in Reds history after beating out fellow finalists Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who was attempting to become only the third pitcher in MLB history to capture the award in three consecutive seasons, in the voting.

Before Bauer, the Reds were one of four active major league teams without a Cy Young winner and the only club founded prior to 1961 without one.

In the 2020 season, Bauer posted a 5-4 record and a National League-leading 1.73 ERA in 73 innings.

Meanwhile, Bieber unanimously won the American League Cy Young Award after his dominance in the pandemic-shortened season. He went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings, leading the majors in both ERA and strikeouts. He tied for the league lead with eight wins.

Bieber became the second player in team history to win the pitching AL Triple Crown, joining Hall of Famer Bob Feller in 1940. He was the first pitcher to lead the major leagues in all three categories since the Minnesota Twins’ Johan Santana in 2006.

Bieber, who was the first unanimous winner of the award since Justin Verlander in 2011, topped Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda for the award. The Toronto Blue Jays’ Hyun-Jin Ryu finished behind Maeda in third.