Tigers' impressive MVP pitching quirk

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Barring a monumental upset, Wednesday night’s Cy Young Awards show on MLB Network is expected become a coronation for Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, whose pitching Triple Crown and clutch performances down the stretch put him in the spotlight among the nastiest starters in the game. At this point, the biggest suspense might be whether or not he receives all 30 first-place votes among members of the Baseball Writers Association of America -- two votes from each American League chapter.

However it turns out, Skubal has a chance to make history, not only as the fifth Tigers pitcher to win a Cy Young Award -- but in the process, pushing the Tigers off the historic quirk of having as many pitchers with MVP Awards as Cy Youngs.

It’s an oddity. No other Major League team with as many Cy Young Award-winners as the Tigers can claim it.

Part of that comes from history, and part from dominance. The Cy Young Award didn’t begin until 1956, so there was no such honor for Hal Newhouser to win when he dominated the American League in the mid-40s. Newhouser led the AL with 29 wins and 187 strikeouts in 1944, then topped that by winning the pitching Triple Crown the following season. He won back-to-back AL MVP honors, both times beating out teammates -- AL ERA leader Dizzy Trout in 1944, then infielder Eddie Mayo in 1945.

The Tigers didn’t have another award-winning pitcher until Denny McLain’s 31-win season in 1968. By then, the Cy Young Award was well-established in both leagues. McLain’s campaign was remarkable enough to pull the double, winning MVP and Cy Young honors unanimously. McLain’s 24-win follow-up season couldn’t get him an MVP repeat, but it earned him a share of the Cy Young Award with Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar, who received the same total of first-place votes.

Two more Tigers pulled the double: Willie Hernandez did so as a reliever in the Tigers’ magical 1984 season, beating out Royals counterpart Dan Quisenberry in both. Then Justin Verlander’s pitching Triple Crown in 2011 earned him a unanimous vote for Cy Young while standing him out of a crowded field for MVP honors.

Max Scherzer garnered 28 of 30 first-place votes for the 2013 Cy Young award, a tribute to his 21-3 record and 2.90 ERA, but his highest MVP vote was for third. Teammate Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout dominated the top of the MVP ballot.

While Skubal’s Triple Crown could earn him some consolation votes on a 10-man MVP ballot, the incredible offensive seasons of Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr. and Juan Soto erased any thought of Skubal winning it to go with Cy Young honors.

Four pitchers in Tigers history have combined to win five MVP Awards, the most for pitchers among MLB teams. Likewise, four Tigers pitchers have combined for five AL Cy Young Awards. Three have won both. If there’s any way for Skubal to top this past season, an MVP season might do it.