Tigers' Scherzer, Price recognized in AL Cy Young voting

DETROIT -- The Tigers no longer have a reigning Cy Young Award winner in their rotation. They ended up with two of the top six finishers.

While Max Scherzer was unable to repeat his Cy Young victory, his follow-up season drew enough votes for a fifth-place finish, just ahead of teammate David Price.

Scherzer received four third-place votes, six for fourth place, and eight for fifth. Price, the 2012 AL Cy Young winner earned two third-place votes, three for fourth and four for fifth. Cleveland's Corey Kluber edged out Seattle's Felix Hernandez in a tight race. The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw was a unanimous choice in the National League.

It marks the first year since 2010 that a Tigers pitcher did not finish as the winner or runner-up. It was not because of a fallback season on Scherzer's part.

Scherzer said in the spring that he could pitch better than last year and not have the same results. He wasn't far off statistically. From a pure pitching standpoint, he felt like he was better.

"Last year, I was very consistent, and that's something that's so hard to strive for," Scherzer said in September. "In my eyes, I wasn't quite as consistent this year as I was last year. I had a few more ups and downs this year. But overall, I still did a heckuva job this year. In some ways I pitched from a numbers perspective pretty much the same. But from a pitching standpoint, I'm able to execute pitches at a higher level. I have a much more consistent curveball, and that allows me to really pitch with four pitches.

"As I keep going, that's what you strive for, is to always find ways to keep getting better and execute pitches in new ways, because you know the rest of the league's keying on you to try to figure you out and try to figure out ways to get hits off you. You have to come up with ways to keep getting better, and that's what I'm proud of. Even after an unbelievable year last year, I still found a way to get better this year."

Statistically, Scherzer was pretty close. His 2.85 Fielding Independent Pitching was just slightly off the 2.74 he posted in 2013. He posted a higher strikeout rate, tossed more innings and recorded his first career complete game and shutout.

Scherzer's 18 wins tied Cy Young winner Corey Kluber and Angels ace Jered Weaver for the AL lead, but his 3.15 ERA was .35 runs higher. His Wins Above Replacement, a key component for some voters, also fell.

Price's metrics were better than his traditional stats. He went 15-12 with a 3.26 ERA in 34 starts between Tampa Bay and Detroit, though his 4-4 record and 3.59 ERA in 11 Tigers starts hinted at struggles to adjust to his new surroundings following his July 31 trade.