CLEVELAND -- In a potential harbinger of things to come with next week's Cy Young Award announcement, Indians ace Corey Kluber was named the American League's Outstanding Pitcher in the 26th annual Players Choice Awards on Wednesday night.
The Nationals' Max Scherzer was Kluber's Players Choice counterpart in the NL.
There was a time early in 2017 when it did not appear Kluber, who is also a candidate for the Esurance MLB Award for Best Pitcher, was on the awards trail. He had an ERA of 5.06 after six starts, and then a back issue kept him out of action for the vast majority of May.