Two Major League pitchers with Ohio and California connections won the Cy Young Awards on Wednesday. Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber of Orange, CA was the American League Cy Young Award winner, and Cincinnati Reds ace Trevor Bauer of North Hollywood, CA was the National League Cy Young Award winner.
Bieber had a record of eight wins and one loss with an earned run average of 1.63 in 12 games. In addition to leading Major League Baseball in wins and earned run average, he also led Major League Baseball with 122 strikeouts. In 77 1/3 innings, Bieber also gave up only 46 hits, 21 walks, and 14 earned runs. He had five wild pitches and hit one batter. Bieber’s WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) was also spectacular as it was 0.87.
Despite a phenomenal season, Bieber did not have a complete game in 2020. There is no doubt we are seeing a trend throughout baseball, where starters, no matter how dominant they have been throughout the game, tend not to go deep in them.
Bieber was outstanding in his first two games of the year. On July 24, Bieber threw six shutout innings and struckout 14 in a 2-0 Indians win over the Kansas City Royals. Then on July 30, Bieber threw eight shutout innings and struckout 13 in a 2-0 Indians win over the Minnesota Twins.
Bauer only had a record of five wins and four losses, but had a marvelous earned run average of 1.73. In 11 games and 73 innings, Bauer had 100 strikeouts compared to 17 walks. He gave up 41 hits and 14 earned runs, three wild pitches and three hit batsmen, with a WHIP of 0.80.
Throughout the season, Bauer threw two complete seven-inning shutouts. The first came on August 2 in a 4-0 Reds win over the Detroit Tigers, and the second came on August 19 in a 5-0 Reds win over the Royals.
Bauer is an unrestricted free agent, and possibly the biggest free agent name in the 2020 offseason. The teams most likely to go after Bauer are the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and the Toronto Blue Jays.
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