Texas Rangers End of Season Awards

Cy Young Award: Jose Leclerc

The Cy Young award almost always goes to a starting pitcher. But starting pitching wasn’t exactly the Texas Rangers’ strong point in 2019. Mike Minor had far and away the best season among Rangers starters; however, his numbers are only slightly above average compared to the rest of MLB. Minor ended with an ERA of over 4.00, was 40 innings shy of 200 and 68 strikeouts shy of 200.

Plus, how can you dispute the dominance of Jose Leclerc?

Leclerc was unbelievable in 2019! He finished with a 1.56 ERA, holding opponents to a .126 batting average and averaging 13.3 strikeout per nine innings. We already covered his many ridiculous statistics from the year, but the reality is the Texas Rangers have on their roster perhaps the best relief pitcher in all of baseball. That’s an exciting claim, and it’s even more exciting considering Leclerc is 24 years old and under team control for the next four seasons.

The Rangers have their closer of the future. They can at least check that box as they proceed with their rebuild.