Trevor Bauer received the best possible reference ahead of entering free agency this offseason. On Thursday, the MLB announced that Bauer is this year’s recipient of the National League Cy Young Award.
En route to being NL’s best pitcher, Bauer went 5-4 in eleven starts while striking out 100 batters and posting a 1.73 ERA. He also had two shutouts, the most in the entire MLB.
Bauer, who became the first Reds’ pitcher to receive this honor, was close to being a unanimous NL Cy Young Award winner. The 29-year-old player received 27 first-place votes out of 30 possible and finished the 201 points out of 210 max.
Chicago Cubs’ Yu Darvish was second, receiving all three remaining first-place votes and totaling 123 points. NY Mets’ Jacob deGrom, who was looking for his third consecutive Cy Young award, finished third with 89 points.
Speaking with reporters after receiving the award, Trevor Bauer said that the biggest reasons for his great success were health and the fact that he enjoyed playing baseball in Cincinnati.
“The season itself was very fun being able to interact with my teammates and learn the culture and just enjoy playing baseball,” said Bauer. “There’s been large portions of my big-league career where I haven’t enjoyed playing baseball and this year was not one of them.”
Even though he loved being part of the Reds’ organization, Bauer recently rejected a qualifying offer from the team and intends to explore the market. He is the best pitcher available on the market and backed by a Cy Young award, there is no doubt that he’ll land a lucrative deal in the coming weeks.
