HOUSTON -- Astros ace right-hander Hunter Brown, who made the American League All-Star team for the first time this past season, is one of three finalists for the AL Cy Young Award, along with Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, who won the award last year.
The winner, which will be determined by voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, will be announced at 6 p.m. CT on Nov. 12 on MLB Network.
Brown, 27, had the best season of his career and was the anchor of the Houston pitching staff. He made 31 starts and was 12-9 with a 2.43 ERA and a career-best WHIP of 1.03. He struck out a career-high 206 batters in 185 1/3 innings and allowed only 133 hits. He had eight starts in which he didn't allow a run.
Among AL starters, Brown ranked first in opponents' slugging percentage (.318), second in ERA and opponents' OPS (.589), tied for second in quality starts (21), third in strikeouts, fourth in WHIP, strikeouts per nine innings (10.0) and pitching WAR (4.8, FanGraphs) and fifth in opponents' batting average (.201).
The longest scoreless streak in the Major Leagues in 2025 belonged to Brown, who threw 28 scoreless innings from April 3-27 -- the fifth-longest single-season streak by a starter in Astros history. Brown was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for June, posting a 1.19 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP in 30 1/3 innings, with Houston winning all five of his starts during the month. He began the season with seven consecutive quality starts, becoming the first pitcher to do that since Guardians righty Shane Bieber had eight in a row to start the '21 season.
If Brown wins, he would be the fifth Astros pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, joining Justin Verlander (2019, '22), Dallas Keuchel (2015), Roger Clemens (2004) and Mike Scott (1986).
Brown, a fifth-round pick by the Astros in 2019 out of Wayne State, broke into the Major Leagues in '22 and has been a full-time member of Houston's pitching staff the past three seasons, making 90 starts from 2023-25 and going 34-31 with a 3.59 ERA.