
Cousins back to Minnesota, Taylor stays in Indianapolis
By Jamal H. Wallace
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Sports Facebook X Pinterest WhatsApp Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski and the New York Yankees’ Cam Schlittler were unanimous Cy Young Award winners Wednesday night after delivering dominant performances in their first full major league seasons. Misiorowski, who reached 105.5 mph with his fastball this summer, won the NL award after helping the Brewers win their first World Series title. Schlittler became the second Yankees pitcher in four years to receive the AL award. The right-handers made their major league debuts in the summer of 2025. “It’s exciting,” Misiorowski said. “And then you look one year past that and you’ve got (2025 NL Cy Young Award winner) Paul Skenes also doing it in his second year. It’s really cool, the youth that’s coming up in the big leagues. It’s going to be fun to watch for years to come.” This was the third time both Cy Young winners were unanimous picks by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Houston’s Justin Verlander won in the AL in 2022 and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the NL, and Detroit’s Denny McLain won in the AL in 1968 and St. Louis’ Bob Gibson in the NL. “Realistically when you come into your first full season of the year, do you think you’re going to do that? Maybe not,” Schlittler said. “But you also have the confidence that you can do that. I definitely had conversations with guys in spring training, and that’s kind of a minor goal you put for yourself. I’m just glad to live up to the expectations.” Misiorowski is 24 and Schlittler is 25, making this the fourth time that both Cy Young winners were 25 or younger, according to Sportradar. The other instances were in 1969 (Tom Seaver and McLain), 1985 (Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen) and 2009 (Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke). Toronto’s Louis Varland won the BBWAA’s inaugural AL Reliever of the Year award, while San Diego’s Mason Miller was a unanimous selection for the NL version. Misiorowski’s magical season Misiorowski becomes the fourth Brewer to receive a Cy Young and the team’s first unanimous winner. The Brewers’ other Cy Young winners were Rollie Fingers (1981), Pete Vuckovich (1982) and Corbin Burnes (2021). Fingers also won the MVP award in 1981, when the Brewers still played in the American League. Misiorowski posted a 1.80 ERA, struck out 252 and limited hitters to a .157 batting average to lead the major leagues in all three categories. The only other pitchers since 1950 to lead the majors in ERA, strikeouts and opponents’ batting average were Sandy Koufax in 1965, J.R. Richard in 1979 and Mike Scott in 1986. That .157 batting average was the lowest since 1900 for any AL or NL pitcher with 100 or more innings. Misiorowski also had an 0.80 WHIP (walks and hits allowed per innings pitched) that represented the lowest in a full regular season for pitchers with at least 150 innings since Pedro Martinez’s 0.73 for Boston in 2000. Misiorowski went 16-5 during the regular season while throwing 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or more for the highest total since tracking started in 2008, shattering the prior mark of 673 by Jordan Hicks in 2018. His 105.5-mph fastball to the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 26 was the fastest pitch ever thrown by a starter in the tracking era. He followed that up by going 2-0 with an 0.84 ERA during Milwaukee’s 4-1 World Series triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays. Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 shutout innings during Milwaukee’s 4-1 Game 5 win that clinched the title. “You close your eyes at night, and I still can see myself and what I was seeing in that moment when we finally won it,” Misiorowski said. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez finished second and Atlanta’s Chris Sale was third in the NL voting. Sánchez was 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 207 innings. Sale, who won the Cy Young in 2024, went 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings. Sánchez earned a $50,000 bonus. Voting took place before the postseason. Schlittler follows Cole’s example Schlittler won the AL Cy Young three years after the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole. Tarik Skubal won the prior two AL Cy Youngs while pitching for Detroit. Cole had been the first Yankee to win the award since Roger Clemens in 2001. Schlittler went 14-6 with an AL-leading 1.95 ERA that ranked third in Yankees’ history, behind Spud Chandler (1.64 in 1943) and Ron Guidry (1.74 in 1978). Schlittler’s 239 strikeouts tied for second in the AL with Toronto’s Dylan Cease, behind the 248 from Cleveland’s Gavin Williams. “The goal honestly coming into the season was to stay healthy, be consistent and make all my starts,” Schlittler said. “That’s something I was able to do.” Cease finished second in the AL voting after going 11-6 with a 2.40 ERA, and he earned a $125,000 bonus. Cleveland’s Parker Messick finished third after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings. This was the second runner-up finish for Cease, who also placed second while pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2022. Varland won the Reliever of the Year award after going 5-6 with a 1.27 ERA, 35 saves and 97 strikeouts in 78 innings. Cleveland’s Cade Smith finished second and Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker was third. “It wasn’t the goal,” Varland said. “It just so happened I won it. … I’m just trying to do my job and help the team win. Things just kind of went my way more often than they didn’t.” Miller was 5-2 with a 1.67 ERA, 38 saves and 129 strikeouts in 70 innings for San Diego. Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran finished second in the NL voting and Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill was third. The Cy Young Award and Reliever of the Year announcements came after Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle and Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart won the Rookie of the Year awards and Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and the Chicago White Sox’s Will Venable were named Managers of the Year. Murphy has won in each of the three seasons that he has managed the Brewers. Featured Local Savings