:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3245201/154686323.0.jpg)
It's that time of year again, where we as a network reveal who won the SBN awards for the past season. Today, we'll unveil the top pitcher in each league. A couple of things to keep in mind:
- Each baseball website received two votes for each award. For Over the Monster, that was myself and Ben Buchanan.
- We were only allowed to vote for the league in which our team resides. So, neither of us could impact any NL races you really had your hearts set on.
With that, here are the results:
| Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander | Detroit Tigers | 23 | 1 | 2 | 171 | ||
| David Price | Tampa Bay Rays | 2 | 17 | 7 | 103 | ||
| Felix Hernandez | Seattle Mariners | 6 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 72 | |
| Chris Sale | Chicago White Sox | 4 | 10 | 4 | 36 | ||
| Jered Weaver | Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 23 | |
| Fernando Rodney | Tampa Bay Rays | 2 | 3 | 4 | 18 | ||
| Matt Harrison | Texas Rangers | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| CC Sabathia | New York Yankees | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Max Scherzer | Detroit Tigers | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Yu Darvish | Texas Rangers | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Jim Johnson | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Hiroki Kuroda | New York Yankees | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Jake Peavy | Chicago White Sox | 1 | 1 | ||||
| James Shields | Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 1 |
It wasn't even close in the American League, with Justin Verlander taking 23 of the 26 first-place votes, and David Price a clear-cut choice for second among AL voters. Chris Sale got enough love on the back-end to throw him into fourth, and would have deserved even better if not for the absurd seasons in front of him. That being said, there are arms behind him who maybe deserved to be ahead of Sale, too.
The top of the list was done right with Verlander, though. Once again, Ben and I mirrored each other with our votes, ranking Verlander, Price, and Felix Hernandez with our first three selections. After that, things get hazier. Ben voted Sale and Rodney with his fourth- and fifth-place votes, while I went with Matt Harrison and Hiroki Kuroda. Yes, the one vote for Kuroda was mine, as was the lone fourth-place vote for Harrison. I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing that I liked the Rangers and Yankees hurlers, respectively, more than their team sites did.
| Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.A. Dickey | New York Mets | 13 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 157 | |
| Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | 11 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 154 |
| Gio Gonzalez | Washington Nationals | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 129 |
| Johnny Cueto | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 73 |
| Cliff Lee | Philadelphia Phillies | 5 | 4 | 3 | 26 | ||
| Matt Cain | San Francisco Giants | 1 | 5 | 4 | 17 | ||
| Cole Hamels | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | ||
| Craig Kimbrel | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 2 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Wade Miley | Arizona Diamondbacks | 3 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Kris Medlen | Atlanta Braves | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Lance Lynn | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 1 |
The NL race was much, much closer, with knuckler and noted Star Wars aficianado R.A. Dickey taking home the virtual hardware. Clayton Kershaw finished just three points behind him, while Gio Gonzalez made for three players with at least 129 points. Johnny Cueto and Cliff Lee, for all their greatness, couldn't come close to making this more than a three-arm race. That's a shame, given both were excellent, much like Sale, Kuroda, and Harrison in the AL.
*****
Looking for SB Nation's other reward recipients? Check out our AL and NL Rookie of the Year winners.