Royals Starting Pitcher Zack Greinke Wins AL Cy Young Award

The competition for the 2009 American League Cy Young Award was viewed as a two-horse race between Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. Greinke received 25 of the 28 first place votes and totaled 134 points in comparison Hernandez's 80 points to win the 2009 AL Cy Young Award, according to MLB.com. The award was voted upon by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and their decision allowed Greinke to become the American League's first starting pitcher from a last place team to win the award in 12 years.

Although Greinke's 16-8 record was rather pedestrian for a Cy Young winner, he was a classic victim of a lack of run support in games that he started. Greinke recorded a phenomenal 2.16 earned run average, displayed unparalleled control over his pitches with a 1.07 WHIP and struck out 242 batters on the season. He threw three complete game shutouts, including two consecutive one-hitters in the month of August.

Hernandez was also a victim of a lack of run support from his team on frequent occasion during the 2009 season but he managed to tie for the American League lead in wins with 19. He finished in the top five of the three most significant pitching categories in the American League; wins, earned run average and strikeouts.