Justin Verlander won his second Cy Young Award in 2019, edging Houston Astros teammate Gerrit Cole. He won previously in 2011 with the Detroit Tigers. He was also the American League Most Valuable Player in 2011. Having also won Rookie of the Year (2006), Verlander and Don Newcombe are the only players in MLB history to win this trifecta of awards.
Tom Seaver came close. Seaver was second in National League MVP voting in 1969 when he led the Miracle Mets to a surprising World Series title. Seaver finished in the top 10 of MVP voting five times.
Other pitchers to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award are: Rick Sutcliffe, Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, and Jacob DeGrom. Valenzuela is the only pitcher in history to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in the same season (1981). Fernandomania swept Los Angeles and the country when Valenzuela won his first eight starts of the strike-shortened season. Unfathomable today, five of those eight were shutouts as batters struggled to solve his screwball.
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