Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell has been awarded the American League Cy Young.
The award is given to the best pitcher in his respective league by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Snell led the American League and was second in all of Major League Baseball to only Jacob deGrom in ERA, with a mark of 1.89. The next closest player was Cleveland's Trevor Bauer, with a 2.21 ERA.
In his third season with the big league team, Snell boasted 21 wins (best in baseball) striking out 221 hitters and limiting opposing batters to a batting average of just .178 (also best in baseball).
Snell was the clear-cut ace on a Rays team that made headlines more for its use of 'openers,' when relief pitchers were used to start games.
The lefty was named to the AL All-Star team and was AL pitcher of the month the last two months of the season.
'Zilla' as fans have come to know him, is the 24th pitcher since 1920 when the live ball era began, to win 20 or more games in a season with an ERA below 2.00.
Earlier this week, Snell was given the 2018 Warren Spahn Award, awarded to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.
This marks the second time a Rays pitcher has won the Cy Young. The other was David Price in 2012.
