Clayton Kershaw NL Cy Young Finalist, Yasiel Puig ROY Finalist

Award season is well underway throughout baseball as Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw took home the Players Choice NL Pitcher of the Year award last night.

The Dodgers were shut out of the NL Gold Glove awards, but this afternoon, the Baseball Writers of America announced the finalists for NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year and the Dodgers have finalists in both categories:

Finalists for NL Cy Young (alphabetically): Jose Fernandez, Marlins; Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers; Adam Wainwright, Cardinals.

— BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) November 5, 2013

Finalists for NL Rookie of the Year (alphabetically): Jose Fernandez, Marlins; Shelby Miller, Cardinals; Yasiel Puig, Dodgers.

— BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) November 5, 2013

Kershaw’s nomination isn’t surprising whatsoever as he’s the likely winner of the award after he went 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA this season, leading the National League in ERA and strikeouts with 232. If he wins the award, Kershaw will take home his second Cy Young award in the last three seasons as he’s clearly become the dominant pitcher in all of baseball.

Meanwhile, Puig started his career with seven home runs in his first month, but did have his ups and downs. His energy and play on the field helped contribute to the Dodgers NLCS berth as he finished the regular season hitting .319 with 17 home runs and 42 RBI. In such a loaded National League rookie class, Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu wasn’t one of the three finalists.

Ryu was better than many expected as he went 14-8 with 3.00 ERA and threw 192 innings, leading all rookies. While Kershaw is a lock to win the NL Cy Young award, Puig isn’t the favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year over Fernandez.

The NL Cy Young award will be announced on November 13 while NL Rookie of the Year will be announced on November 11 as the Dodgers look to sweep both categories.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

In case you missed it-Dodgers Decline Mark Ellis And Chris Capuano Options