Any time a pitcher has a truly great season and warrants Most Valuable Player talk, there will be a debate about whether a pitcher should be included in MVP voting or not.
Of course, everyone knows that there is an award for the most valuable pitcher in each league—the Cy Young award.
The best everyday position players compete for the MVP award.
It’s a debate that rarely ever merits much attention since it is such a rare feat for a pitcher to win both awards in the same season.
Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956, only nine pitchers have managed to win both the MVP and Cy Young in the same season.
As he leads the Detroit Tigers towards the postseason, Justin Verlander‘s 2011 season is once again bringing the issue to the forefront however.
The Detroit Tigers currently have a record of 76-62, at 14 games over .500 and 5.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians for first place in the American League Central division.
Verlander has a record of 21-5 (16 games over .500 himself), building the case that he has put the Tigers on his back to help catapult them into their current position in the playoff chase.
Ultimately, we will likely have a separate MVP and Cy Young Award winner in the American League this season, as is usually the case.
Here’s a look at how Verlander stacks up against the nine members of the MVP-Cy Young Club.