Ever looked at the cy young award winners list and wondered how we got from guys throwing 300 innings a year to starters barely making it through five? It’s wild. The trophy itself is named after Denton True "Cy" Young, a man who won 511 games back when pitchers basically stayed on the mound until the sun went down.
When the award started in 1956, it wasn't even a "per league" thing. There was just one winner for the whole of Major League Baseball. Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers took home that first plaque. He went 27-7 that year. Honestly, if a guy won 27 games today, they’d probably build him a statue by the All-Star break.
The Evolution of the Cy Young Award Winners List
Things changed in 1967. That’s when the BBWAA (Baseball Writers' Association of America) decided it was only fair to give one to each league. Before that, you had legends like Sandy Koufax dominating the single-award era. Koufax won three of them in a four-year span in the mid-60s. He was so good he won two of them unanimously.
But look at the more recent names on the cy young award winners list. In 2025, we saw Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers grab his second consecutive AL award. In the National League, Paul Skenes, the phenom from Pittsburgh, took it home. Skenes winning is a perfect example of how the game has shifted. He didn't need 20 wins. He didn't even need 200 innings. He just needed to be the most dominant presence on the bump.
The Multi-Time Champions
If you’re talking about the GOATs of this list, you have to start with Roger Clemens. Seven. He won seven of these things. That is a record that might never be touched. He won them with the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Astros. He’s the only guy to win it with four different franchises.
Then you have the "Big Unit," Randy Johnson. He’s got five. Between 1999 and 2002, he won four in a row. Imagine being a hitter in the NL West during that stretch. Basically a nightmare every five days. Greg Maddux also did the four-in-a-row trick from 1992 to 1995.
Other big names with at least three:
- Steve Carlton (4)
- Max Scherzer (3)
- Justin Verlander (3)
- Clayton Kershaw (3)
- Jim Palmer (3)
- Tom Seaver (3)
- Sandy Koufax (3)
When the Closers Stole the Show
It doesn't happen often. Relievers winning the Cy Young is sort of like a kicker winning NFL MVP. It’s rare. But it happens when a guy is so lights-out that the starters look ordinary.
Mike Marshall was the first to do it in 1974 for the Dodgers. He appeared in 106 games. Think about that for a second. 106 games! That’s more than some people work in a year.
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Since then, only a handful of others joined that club. Sparky Lyle did it in '77. Rollie Fingers and Willie Hernandez actually pulled off the "Double" by winning the Cy Young and the MVP in the same year. The most recent closer to pull it off was Eric Gagne back in 2003. He was 55-for-55 in save opportunities. You literally couldn't touch him.
Modern Voters and the "Win" Obsession
For decades, if you didn't win 20 games, you weren't winning the Cy Young. Period.
That changed in 2010. Felix Hernandez won the AL award with a 13-12 record. Fans lost their minds. "How can a guy with 12 losses be the best?" Well, because his ERA was 2.27 and his team couldn't score a run if the bases were loaded and the pitcher fell over.
Voters started looking at WHIP, FIP, and WAR. Jacob deGrom proved this wasn't a fluke when he won back-to-back awards in 2018 and 2019 despite having only 10 and 11 wins respectively. He was just better than everyone else. It wasn't his fault the Mets' offense was asleep.
Notable Snubs and Oddities
Not every great pitcher has their name on the cy young award winners list. Nolan Ryan? Never won one. He has the most strikeouts in history and seven no-hitters, but the trophy eluded him. His best finish was second in 1973.
Then there's the 1969 American League race. It ended in a tie. Mike Cuellar and Denny McLain shared the honor. It’s the only time it has ever happened. McLain had just come off a 31-win season the year before, which is still the last time anyone has hit the 30-win mark.
How to Analyze the List Yourself
If you’re looking at these names to settle a bar bet or build a fantasy roster, don't just look at the ERA.
- Check the Era: A 3.50 ERA in the steroid-heavy late 90s is worth way more than a 2.50 ERA in the "dead ball" 60s.
- Look at Innings: A guy throwing 230 innings is providing way more value than a "dominant" starter who gets pulled in the 6th inning every night.
- League Strength: Sometimes one league is just stacked. In the late 90s, the AL had Pedro, Clemens, and Johnson all at once. Someone was always getting snubbed.
The history of the Cy Young is basically the history of how we value pitching. We’ve moved from "durability and wins" to "pure dominance and efficiency." Whether you like the "opener" era or miss the days of guys throwing 150 pitches, the names on this list represent the absolute peak of the craft.
To get the most out of studying the Cy Young winners, you should compare the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of the winners against the runners-up from the 1980s versus the 2020s. You'll see a massive shift in how voters prioritize strikeout rates and advanced metrics over traditional "counting" stats. This helps you predict future winners by looking for high-K/low-walk pitchers on teams that might not even be playoff contenders.