LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will be presented with his 2020 National League Cy Young Award during pregame ceremonies tonight.
The presentation coincides with the Cincinnati Reds' lone regular-season series at Dodger Stadium in 2021. Bauer pitched for the Reds in 2020.
“It will be great to see him receive a really well-earned Cy Young Award,'' Cincinnati manager David Bell told reporters on a Zoom call Monday.
Bauer received 27 of the 30 first-place votes in voting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, with the other three voters giving him their second-place votes for 201 voting points.
Yu Darvish, then with the Chicago Cubs, finished second, receiving the other three first-place votes and 123 points.
Bauer became the first Reds pitcher to win a Cy Young Award after five had finished second.
The award has been presented annually since 1956 when it went to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. Separate awards for each league began in 1967.
Bauer led the National League with a 1.73 ERA in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, opponents' batting average (.159) and hits per nine innings (5.1). He was second in strikeouts with 100 and strikeouts per nine innings (12.3), and went 5-4 with a league-leading two shutouts and two complete games.
“I don't know you could have a better season than he had last year really in every way,'' Bell said.
Bauer's Cy Young Award-winning season came after he went 11-13 with a 4.48 ERA in 2019 when he split the season between Cincinnati and the Cleveland Indians.
“Very rarely does a pitcher, even the best of them, go through a whole career without having some ups and downs,'' Bell said. “He responded by just getting better and more determined.''
The former UCLA and Hart High School standout signed a three-year contract with the Dodgers on Feb. 11 worth $102 million, including $40 million this season, the highest single-season salary in baseball history, according to multiple outlets.
Bauer has a 3-0 record and 2.53 ERA so far this season. He is tied for third in Major League Baseball in walks plus hits per inning with 0.66 and is sixth in strikeouts with 45.
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