Clayton Kershaw blew away the Cy Young competition the same way he blew away hitters all season long.
In what turned out to be a completely lopsided vote, Kershaw claimed 29 of a possible 30 first place votes in winning his second Cy Young Award in three years. Adam Wainwright got the lone other top vote and finished second, and Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez was third.
There really was no doubt who would win this award, as Kershaw's season was unlike any other. In 33 starts, he finished 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, .195 BAA, and 232 K's in 236 innings. Throw in three complete games, two of which were shutouts, and you've got a pure ace.
Compared to the rest of the National League, he finished first in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts; second in innings; and third in wins and complete games.
The next step for Kershaw is inking a massive extension, which is rumored to be in the $300 million range. If you watched him on the live Cy Young Award announcement on MLB Network, or a little bit later on SportsCenter, you'd see how he avoided that questions all together. And who can blame him? He'll let his agent take care of that.
What I love about Kershaw is that even with another Cy Young in his trophy case, he talked about the need for getting a ring, and how all of the stats don't matter compared to winning a World Series. The Dodgers will lock him up, then get to work on adding a few more pieces to get over the hump in October.
A Cy Young Award and a World Series ring in 2014? Hey, when it comes to Kershaw, nothing is out of the question.
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