Here are the pitchers that won the Cy Young Award in their only appearance in the top five (since 1970 when voting expanded beyond only first-place votes):
- Sparky Lyle 1977
- Mike Flanagan 1979
- John Denny 1983
- Willie Hernandez 1984
- Steve Bedrosian 1987
- Mark Davis 1989
- Bob Welch 1990
- Pat Hentgen 1996
- Barry Zito 2002
- Jake Peavy 2007
- R.A. Dickey 2012
- Dallas Keuchel 2015
- Jake Arrieta 2015
SUSTAINED DOMINANCE
At the other end of the Cy Young Award consistency spectrum are pitchers who repeatedly were in contention for the award.
The record for most consecutive seasons receiving votes for the Cy Young Award is seven.
7 consecutive seasons with Cy votes – Max Scherzer 2013-2019, Chris Sale 2012-2018, Clayton Kershaw 2011-2017, Greg Maddux 1992-1998
6 consecutive seasons with Cy votes – Roy Halladay 2006-2011, Johan Santana 2003-2008, Randy Johnson 1997-2002
5 consecutive seasons with Cy votes – C. C. Sabathia 2007-2011, Don Sutton 1972-1976, Tom Seaver 1969-1973
4 consecutive seasons with Cy votes – Justin Verlander, Catfish Hunter, Craig Kimbrel, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Mussina, Pedro Martinez, Dave Stewart.
Given that he owns the most Cy Young Awards and received votes in 12 seasons, it is surprising that Roger Clemens is not on this list. He had two streaks of three consecutive seasons 1986-1988 and 1990-1992.
MOST CAREER FIRST-PLACE VOTES
Pitcher, number of first-place votes, number of seasons receiving Cy votes
- Roger Clemens, 181, 12
- Randy Johnson, 148, 10
- Greg Maddux, 104, 9
- Clayton Kershaw, 96, 8
- Pedro Martinez, 92, 7
- Steve Carlton, 89, 6
- Justin Verlander, 86, 10
- Max Scherzer, 81, 7
- Roy Halladay, 66, 7
- Tom Seaver, 64, 10
Italics = active
Sandy Koufax had 61 first-place votes in just four seasons (all of which had just 20 voters).
Jacob DeGrom had 58 first-place votes through his second Cy-winning season in 2019. He could climb into the top 10.
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