Justin Verlander Wins AL Cy Young: But Will He Win AL MVP, As Well?

Just moments ago Tuesday afternoon, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was unanimously named the winner of the 2011 AL Cy Young Award.  This came as a surprise to no one as the big righty had one of the most dominant seasons in baseball history. 

In 2011, Verlander went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and struck out 250 batters in 251 innings pitched. Opposing hitters batted just .192 against him, and on top of that, the man threw his second career no-hitter.

Considering how lights-out he was during the regular season, the question now poses itself: Justin Verlander is the hands-down AL Cy Young Award winner, but is he the AL MVP, too?

Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm sad to say that Justin Verlander will not be the AL MVP this year. This isn't a knock against his skill set at all, but recent history indicates that pitchers just don't win the MVP award.

In fact, let's take a look at the history of the award.

Since 1980, in both leagues, only four pitchers have been named MVP and, ironically, they were all in the AL. Those pitchers are Rollie Fingers (1981), Willie Hernandez (1984), Roger Clemens (1986) and Dennis Eckersley (1992).

Now, let's break down each of those seasons.

Fingers was the closer of the Milwaukee Brewers in '81 and also won the Cy Young Award that year after saving 28 games and posting a remarkable 1.04 ERA. The man who finished second behind him was Rickey Henderson, who hit just .319 with six homers, 35 RBI and 56 stolen bases. A great season, but not exactly dominant.

Looking at the voting breakdown that year, there wasn't much competition. Plus, '81 was a strike-shortened season, so that should be taken into account as well.

Willie Hernandez had a similar year to Fingers in '84, but his numbers (besides his 32 saves) could easily mirror that of a starter. He appeared in just 80 games, but posted a 9-3 record with a 1.92 ERA in 140.1 innings, beating out Minnesota's Kent Hrbek (.311 BA, 27 home runs, 107 RBI) for the award.  That year, Hernandez also took home the AL Cy Young.

Clemens went 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA in his MVP season as his playing for a winning team edged him out over New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly (.352 BA, 31 homers, 113 RBI). Here is where the reasoning for why Verlander should not receive MVP occurs.

Just one year before, New York Mets ace Dwight Gooden also went 24-4 and posted a ridiculous 1.53 ERA, as he struck out an MLB-leading 268 batters while leading all of baseball in innings-pitched as well with 276. He finished in fourth place behind three hitters: Willie McGee, Dave Parker and Pedro Guerrero. 

Looking at the stats of each, it's kind of ridiculous that Gooden would get the shaft for the MVP award and Clemens would win it with the same W-L record but inferior numbers the rest of the way down.

On top of that, let's not forget Clemens' 2001 season with the New York Yankees. He went an incredible 20-3 that year with a 3.51 ERA and was instrumental in getting the Yankees to their fourth straight World Series. Instead, he lost to Ichiro Suzuki, who hit .350 with eight homers and 69 RBI, not to mention 56 steals.

I'm not bitter about Clemens losing at all, but I'm just saying that the fact that he didn't contend for MVP that year (he finished eighth in voting) is kind of ridiculous.

That all being said, Justin Verlander just won't win the AL MVP Award in spite of the fact that, without him, the Detroit Tigers were basically a .500 team. I don't like it any more than the fans do, but the fact remains that pitchers do not play everyday, thereby hurting their chances in recent years, what with the innovation of pitch counts and whatnot.

Thus, while Verlander will enjoy his AL Cy Young Award in all its glory, he will be in the background politely applauding when the AL MVP is announced on November 22.