Blue Jays ace Hyun-Jin Ryu named finalist for AL Cy Young Award

Toronto Blue Jays ace Hyun-Jin Ryu has been named one of three finalists for the 2020 American League Cy Young Award.

Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians and Kenta Maeda of the Minnesota Twins are the other AL finalists, with the winner being announced Nov. 11.

Meanwhile, skipper Charlie Montoyo has been named as a finalist for manager of the year after guiding the Blue Jays to a 32-28 record and a spot in the expanded post-season, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the opening round.

He joins Kevin Cash of the Rays and Rick Renteria, who was fired after the season, of the Chicago White Sox.

The 33-year-old Ryu went 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 starts while striking out 72 hitters in 67 innings.

It's the second straight season the lefty has finished as a Cy Young finalist after posting a 2.32 ERA in 29 starts with the Dodgers in 2019, coming in behind National League winner Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander took home the AL Cy Young award last season.

DeGrom, Betts in mix for historic NL awards

DeGrom is going for his third consecutive NL Cy Young Award, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts could become the second player to win the MVP award in each league.

The competition, of course, is tough.

DeGrom, Trevor Bauer and Yu Darvish are the top finishers for the NL Cy Young Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Betts, Freddie Freeman and Manny Machado are the finalists for NL MVP.

The top three finishers for each BBWAA award were revealed on Monday. The winners will be announced next week.

DeGrom could join Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux as the only pitchers to win at least three consecutive Cy Young Awards. But Bauer had an NL-best 1.73 ERA in 11 starts for Cincinnati, and Darvish went 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA in 12 starts for the Chicago Cubs, matching Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber for the major league lead in wins.

Betts, who won the 2018 AL MVP award with Boston, helped the Dodgers win the World Series for the first time since 1988. Frank Robinson is the only player to win the MVP award in each league, accomplishing the feat in 1961 with Cincinnati and 1966 for Baltimore.

Balloting for the BBWAA awards was completed before the start of the post-season.

Freeman batted .341 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs for NL East champion Atlanta, and Machado hit .304 with 16 homers and 47 RBIs for the San Diego Padres.

AL MVP

Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, Cleveland Indians infielder Jose Ramirez and New York Yankees leadoff man DJ LeMahieu are the top three finishers in voting for the AL MVP award.

LeMahieu, who hit a big league-best .364, and Bauer are free agents after starring during the pandemic-shortened season.

Miami's Don Mattingly, San Diego's Jayce Tingler and the Cubs' David Ross are the finalists for NL Manager of the Year. Tingler and Ross just completed their first seasons as big league skippers.

The finalists for AL Rookie of the Year are Houston Astros right-hander Cristian Javier and centre fielders Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners and Luis Robert of the White Sox. Philadelphia Phillies infielder Alec Bohm, San Diego Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth and Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams are the top finishers for the NL rookie award.