Nats well-represented on Cy Young ballot

We all knew Clayton Kershaw was going to win the National League Cy Young Award last night.

He did.

We all figured it was going to be a unanimous vote, after Kershaw went a ridiculous 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA in 198 1/3 innings this season.

It was.

Kershaw became just the 14th pitcher to win the NL Cy Young by a unanimous vote, joining Sandy Koufax (three times), Greg Maddux (twice), Randy Johnson, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Rick Sutcliffe, Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, Jake Peavy and Roy Halladay. A pitcher has won the American League Cy Young by a unanimous vote nine times - Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana each did so twice; and Denny McLain, Ron Guidry and Justin Verlander each did so once.

Kershaw has won back-to-back Cy Youngs and has received the award three times in a four-year span. He's just the ninth pitcher ever to win at least three Cy Young Awards.

He's kinda good.

Now we'll see if he takes home the NL Most Valuable Player award, which will b announced tonight at 6 p.m. on MLB Network.

Kershaw is up against the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton and the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen, two hitters who have destroyed the Nationals over their careers.

While a Nationals pitcher didn't win the Cy Young last night, Washington was very well-represented on the ballot. Jordan Zimmermann came in fifth in the voting with 25 points, Doug Fister came in eighth with five points and Stephen Strasburg tied for ninth with three points.

Zimmermann received one third-place vote, seven fourth-place votes and eight fifth-place tallies. Fister was written in as a fourth-place finisher on one ballot and three voters had him fifth, while Strasburg received three fifth-place votes.

Here are the stat lines put up by each Nats pitcher in 2014:

* Zimmermann: 14-5, 2.66 ERA, 199 2/3 innings, 1.072 WHIP, 182 Ks, 29 BBs, three complete games, two shutouts
* Fister: 16-6, 2.41 ERA, 164 innings, 1.079 WHIP, 98 Ks, 24 BBs, one complete game, one shutout
* Strasburg: 14-11, 3.14 ERA, 215 innings, 1.121 WHIP, 242 Ks, 43 BBs

Only one other team had multiple pitchers receive votes, and that was the Dodgers. Zack Greinke came in seventh, joining his rotation-mate Kershaw on the ballot.

The fact that the Nationals had three pitchers get votes is really a testament to the season that their starting staff had as a whole. We've talked about it time after time, but when Tanner Roark is your so-called fifth starter and the highest ERA of any member of the rotation is Gio Gonzalez's 3.57, you know the staff has done something special.

Strasburg got off to a bit of a slow start, but had 21 starts where he allowed two earned runs or fewer. Fister missed the first month of the season, and he still came in eighth in the Cy Young voting. Zimmermann lost the feel for his slider for a brief stretch, had to leave a start with a biceps strain and then took a comebacker off his pitching shoulder. And he still had his best season in the big leagues.

There wasn't any doubt that Kershaw would win the Cy Young this season. But the fact that the Nats had three pitchers receive votes for the award is damn impressive, in my opinion.