Justin Verlander’s loss to David Price cost him AL Cy Young Award – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays’ starting pitcher David Price beat out Justin Verlander of Detroit Tigers by 4 points in the American League Cy Young Award voting. According to balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Price finished with 153 points
to claim his first ever Cy Young Award.
Verlander finished second with 149 points. Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels came third with 70 points. Verlander will be very disappointed with the fact he missed out on an excellent opportunity to win the prestigious award for the second straight
season. Only Pedro Martinez of Boston Red Sox and Tim Lincecum of San Francisco Giants have won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.
"It speaks volumes about his work ethic," Price said. "It was awesome to see. It's something I hope to implement."
"When I look at the overall strength of Verlander's season -- his innings and strikeouts and a lot of advanced metrics -- he was absolutely a deserving winner. The stats favored Verlander; the context favored Price. Price is the first ERA champion from the
AL East since Pedro Martinez (in 2003 for Boston)," Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com said. "That is a special achievement. He consistently faced high-leverage situations in ballparks where one missed location means a home run."
Price, who was runner up two years ago, displayed some top quality pitching skills last season as he finished first with 20 wins and sixth in strikeouts with 205. He also had the lowest 2.56 ERA in the American League.
Verlander, who claimed the Cy Young and American League Most Valuable Player Award last season, finished 2012 with a decent 17-8 record and a 2.64 ERA. He also led the Majors with 239 strike-outs, just over 238 innings and six complete games. However, Tigers’
ace lost the crucial battle against Price on in first half of the season. Had Verlander won that duel, he would have been just one game win behind Price.
Price tossed up 211 innings in 31 starts which are fewer than Verlander. He, however, faced a tougher challenge in one of the most competitive leagues in baseball, the American League East Division. Rays’ relief pitcher Fernando Rodney also had a first place
vote but he finished fifth.
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