WASHINGTON — On Monday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the 2019 National League Cy Young Award finalists, and Max Scherzer made the list once again. Alongside him are finalists Hyun-Jin Ryu from the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets Jacob deGrom, who won last year.
Scherzer is not a stranger when it comes to the Cy Young Award -- in fact, he already has three wins under his belt. He was also a runner up behind Jacob deGrom last year, which could make this year's nomination an interesting rematch.
The finalists for the award are just the candidates who secured the top three spots in the voting -- meaning a pitcher can still receive votes towards a Cy Young but not become a finalist. Scherzer has been nominated for a Cy Young every season since 2013 -- but since he did not rank in the top 3 in 2014 and 2015, he was unable to win. The finalists are the only candidates actually eligible for the Cy Young award itself.
Scherzer's first Cy Young came when he was pitching in the American league in 2013, winning his second Cy Young just three years later as a National. His second win in 2016 made him the sixth pitcher to win the award in both the National and American League, and by the time Scherzer won his third Cy Young in 2017, he was the 10th pitcher in history to win the award at least three times.
So yeah, he's done this before.
What he hasn't done before last week, however, is win a World Series.
Scherzer made it clear in the past that what he really was after was a Commissioners' Trophy.
"There's a lot of people that had a role into this ... getting multiple Cy Youngs, I understand that, but that's not what motivates me to go out there and continue to pitch," Scherzer said in 2017. "Trying to win a World Series is what this is all about."
So while the winner of the Cy Young won't be announced until Nov. 13, it looks like Scherzer is taking good care of the hardware he already has.
WATCH: Scherzer reflects on his 2017 Cy Young Award win at Nationals Winterfest.
What is the Cy Young Award?
There are several coveted awards denoted in the MLB, with a winner chosen in both the American League and the National League. Such awards include the Golden Glove, Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and then the Cy Young.
The Cy Young Award is given to the best pitcher in each league and was first introduced in 1956 in honor of the Hall of Fame pitcher the award is named after. Young made records for all-time innings pitched and was the first to throw a pitch in the World Series, as he started in Game 1 of the 1903 World Series.
While the award was originally given only to one pitcher, the league decided to honor a pitcher from each of the two leagues in 1967.
The winners for the Cy Young Award are voted on before the postseason, partially in an effort to not be swayed by specific memorable performances during postseason games.
So, how are the winners decided?
The award for each league is voted on by two members of the Baseball Writers Association of America in each league city where there's a team, making 30 voters for each award.
Since the 2010 season, each writer places a vote for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth place pitchers of each league. Those five pitchers are then placed on a ballot. Of the five names on the ballot, the three with the most votes are considered finalists.
To determine the final score, a weighted sum of the votes is calculated. The pitcher with the highest score in each league wins the award, and if two players are tied, then they share it.
Currently, Roger Clemens holds the most Cy Youngs at 7.
