Nationals ace Max Scherzer was named the National League Cy Young Award winner Wednesday, becoming the sixth pitcher in baseball history to win in both leagues.
Your @officialBBWAA NL #CyYoung winner now has an award for each league: @Max_Scherzer. pic.twitter.com/pCB6LQs4UW
— MLB (@MLB) November 16, 2016
Scherzer went 20–7 with a 2.96 ERA, a 11.2 K/9 innings ratio and a 6.2 WAR. He also became just the third pitcher in NL history with 20 wins, 250 Ks and an opponents' batting average under .200 in a season. He collected 25 of a possible 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, for 192 total points.
Cubs pitchers Jon Lester (102 points) and Kyle Hendricks (85 points) finished second and third in voting, respectively.
SPAEDER: Scherzer's numbers historic
Scherzer celebrated immediately after the announcement was made:
.@Max_Scherzer is living life right. On a boat, wins the #CyYoung, gets a champagne shower pic.twitter.com/7XgiAvQd1s
— Brody Logan (@BrodyLogan) November 16, 2016
Scherzer, a four-time All-Star, won the American League Cy Young in 2013 as a member of the Tigers.
He pitched two no-hitters in 2015 (June 20 and Oct. 3) and he matched the major league record for strikeouts (20) in a nine-inning game (May 11, 2016).