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| USA TODAY
Cleveland Indians right-hander Shane Bieber won the 2020 American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, becoming the AL’s first unanimous choice since Justin Verlander in 2011 by receiving all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Bieber went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 77⅓ innings, helping the Indians reach the postseason for the fourth time in five years. In all, Bieber led the majors in wins, ERA, strikeouts, FIP (2.07) and K/9 (14.2) and is the first pitcher since 2011 to win the Triple Crown (ERA, wins, strikeouts).
Kenta Maeda (92 points) of the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays’ Hyun-jin Ryu (51 points) finished second and third, respectively, in the AL voting.
His 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings is the highest single-season ratio in history among players to have qualified for the ERA title – albeit in a shortened season.
Bieber struck out at least 10 batters in eight of his 12 starts and was unbeaten until his 10th outing of the season. Opposing hitters had a .167 average against Bieber, the best mark in the AL.
The 25-year-old becomes the fifth Indians pitcher to win the award, joining Gaylord Perry (1972), CC Sabathia (2007), Cliff Lee (2008) and Corey Kluber (2014, 2017).AL ROY: Mariners outfielder wins award unanimously
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Bieber was a fourth-round pick in 2016 and made his big-league debut in 2018, before hitting his stride as a sophomore in 2019. He was named MVP of the All-Star Game in Cleveland and finished fourth in Cy Young voting, going 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA and 259 strikeouts.
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