CY

On Thursday, Cy Young front-runner Paul Skenes never gave them a chance.

His counterpart, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, was nowhere near top form.

It honed the lower body and core strength that drove his powerful delivery — a behind-the-scenes bedrock in his rise to becoming a three-time Cy Young Award winner and generationally dominant left-handed star.

Stark pointed out that since Oakland Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley won the American League Cy Young Award and MVP in 1992 when he notched 51 saves, only one reliever has won a Cy Young Award and no reliever has finished even in the top three in MVP voting.

Otherwise, Stark notes, “voters have decided the MVP is a position player’s award, the Cy Young is a starting pitcher’s award and ‘None of the Above’ is a relief pitcher’s award.”