IBWAA Names Scherzer, Kluber Top Pitchers

The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) named Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber the top pitchers in their respective leagues.

Scherzer won the National League prize easily, with 81 first-place votes and 850 points. Jon Lester was second with 450 points. Kyle Hendricks, the late Jose Fernandez and Noah Syndergaard rounded out the top five. I had the top three, but I voted Johnny Cueto fourth and Fernandez fifth. That’s right, I did not vote for Syndergaard. I wanted to, but the others had better seasons, in my opinion.

Kluber won by a razor-thin margin over Rick Porcello — 727-719 in points. Kluber received 56 first-place votes, one more than Porcello. They were followed by Justin Verlander, Chris Sale and Zach Britton. My order was Porcello, Kluber, J.A. Happ, Sale and Verlander.