It's unanimous: Indians' Shane Bieber wins American League Cy Young Award

Shane Bieber was one of three finalists for the American League Cy Young award, but he was the only real choice. Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voters saw it that way as well, making Bieber a unanimous pick for the league's top pitching honor Wednesday after a dominating shortened season from the Indians right-hander, who led the AL in virtually every statistic. "It means the world, said Bieber, who was surrounded by family and friends in Arizona when he received the news. " It's pretty incredible just to join this group and be on the same list as these (former Cy Young award winners). To be able to get the season in this year and to do what we did and for it to finish this way is extremely special." Bieber, who posted an 8-1 record and a 1.63 ERA in 12 starts, with a major league-leading 122 strikeouts over 77 1/3 innings, received all 30 first-place votes. Minnesota's Kenta Maeda finished second and Toronto's Hyun-Jin Ryu was third. "Today's a happy day, regardless," he said. "Whether I won, first and foremost, or whether it was unanimous, it's just good to be here. I've got my family and friends, hanging out having some beers, playing some cornhole and just enjoying each other's company. I guess it just makes it that much better that we were able to take this thing home and that it was unanimous." Bieber is the fifth Cleveland pitcher to win the award since its inception in 1956 — and fourth since 2007 — joining two-time winner Corey Kluber (2014, '17), Cliff Lee (2008), CC Sabathia (2007) and Gaylord Perry (1972). He is the first Cleveland pitcher to win the major league Triple Crown (most wins, lowest ERA and most strikeouts) and first since Minnesota's Johan Santana in 2006. Bieber is also the first Cleveland pitcher to win the AL Triple Crown since Bob Feller in 1940. And under difficult circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bieber was still locked in from the start. He allowed only four hits and struck out an Opening Day club-record 14 batters over six scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over the Royals. Bieber's 27 strikeouts over his first two starts set an AL record and tied the major league mark. He was the fastest pitcher to 100 strikeouts since 1900. But with each brilliant outing pushing him closer to the top of the Cy Young conversation, Bieber had the mute button on lock. "I don't know if it's just me or if I'm a little bit different than other cats, but that's kinda how I've always been," Bieber said. "That's how I was when I was in college once I started learning the mental side of the game and what helped me the most. And part of that was not paying attention to outside noise. "It doesn't matter how good or bad you did in your last start. It matters what you do in your next one. I know that's cliche, but it's the absolute truth. That's kinda where I get that state of mind from and that's kinda what I want to focus on, just continue to move forward no matter what — just keep trudging." Bieber rarely stumbled until a poor outing in the postseason, when he allowed seven runs on nine hits (two home runs) over 4 2/3 innings in a 12-3 loss to the Yankees in Game 1 of the wild-card series at Progressive Field. It's been a meteoric rise for the 25-year-old Bieber, who was Cleveland's fourth-round draft pick in 2016. He came on the scene two years ago as the Indians' fifth starter. Last year, he made his first All-Star team and was the game's MVP at Progressive Field. And now, three years into his big league career, he already owns a Cy Young award. What's next? "I don't know, you tell me," Bieber said. "That's kinda my mental state is it doesn't matter what happened in the past. Obviously, I'm going to reflect on this and enjoy it as much as I can, but you've just gotta keep moving forward and continue to get better. "That's what I'm going to focus on and put the work in this offseason and we'll see what next year ends up bringing. But for tonight, I'm just going to enjoy this one." Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.