Washington Nationals’ Gio Gonzalez wins third highest votes for Cy Young Award - MLB Update
Behind Clayton Kershaw and R.A. Dickey, Washington Nationals’ starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez clinched the third highest votes for the Cy Young Award from National League.
Dickey claimed the honour by grabbing the most number of first-place votes.
Despite finishing third, it is not a small achievement for Gonzalez. Being named as one of the contestants for the award was in itself an acknowledgment of his high stature as a pitcher.
Gonzalez, along Stephen Strasburg, spearheaded expedition of the Nationals during 2012 regular season. Both were a nearly an invincible duo as they brought wins for the team on a consistent basis.
Dominance that the Nationals showed at the beginning of the last season was mainly because of a series of scoreless innings Gonzalez and Strasburg threw as starters. The majority of the matches that they started saw a fewer number of runs scored by the opponents.
After Strasburg was shut-down, role of Gonzalez in making sure that the Nationals qualify for the playoffs was extremely important.
Exclusion of an ace like Strasburg from the team was certainly to affect the progress but thanks to Gonzalez the impact was minimised.
Gonzalez continued with his impressive run of form and producing victories for the club.
Talking about his journey with the Nationals and how he was traded there from the Oakland Athletics, Gonzalez has thanked Mike Rizzo, the General Manager of Washington.
“It’s been great,” Gonzalez said. “What Rizzo did for me and what the Lerner family did for me, giving me a chance to play for a different team and a different city, it was unbelievable. It’s been a beautiful year.”
Rizzo was the brainchild of the idea of inducting Gonzalez into the team through the trade. As it has worked wonderfully well for Washington with Gonzalez leading the pitching department throughout the last season, he deserves credit for that.
While Gonzalez was amazing by-and-large, he struggled during the playoffs. Under pressure, it was difficult for him to control his pitches properly.
He will be looking to work on this area and makes sure that he stands out for the club next year even during the pressure cooker games.
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