Yankees right-hander Luis Severino finished third behind the Indians' Corey Kluber, who earned 28 of 30 first-place votes en route to being named as the American League's Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday. Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale finished second, receiving the other two first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Pitching in his first full Major League season, Severino went 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 31 starts, holding opponents to a .208 batting average and a miniscule .603 OPS. He ranked third in the AL in ERA and WHIP (1.04) fourth in strikeouts (230) and ninth in innings (193 1/3), while earning his first All-Star selection at age 23.
:: AL Cy Young Award voting totals ::
Severino's 10.71 K/9 ratio was the highest in Yankees history, while his batting average against was the lowest since Ron Guidry held hitters to a .193 mark in his Cy Young Award-winning 1978 season. Severino's ERA was the lowest by a Yankee since David Cone (2.82) and Andy Pettitte (2.88) in 1997.
"[Severino] has always been an exciting talent and someone who's performed at every level throughout," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "We had high hopes for him. Obviously 2017 was the year that was his coming-out party at the Major League level. We're not surprised, because we saw what he was capable of. The biggest surprise was what happened in '16, and trying to figure out why he lost the command of his fastball, the use of his changeup and the slider became erratic. He's got all the equipment, the ability and the mental fortitude. We're proud of what he did and excited for him and for us."
• All-time winners, Cy Young Award: AL | NL
Maintaining his velocity deep into starts, it was not uncommon to see Severino pumping fastballs at 99-100 mph in the late innings. His 17 starts of one earned run or none tied the Nationals' Max Scherzer for the Major League lead, and were the most by a Yankee since Guidry had 21 in 1978.
"Every time they give me the ball, I just go over there and have fun," Severino said. "It's been a great season."