Justin Verlander Quietly Pitched His Way To Deserving The 2016 Cy Young Award

Justin Verlander silenced a lot of critics this season, and may have earned himself another American League Cy Young award.

There were plenty of Tigers fans saying that Verlanders best days were a long way behind him, and that he would never be the great pitcher that the Tigers are paying him to be.

Those people are eating a big slice of humble pie right now, as Verlander finished the season on top of most statistical categories for the American League.

• 1st in strikeouts
• 1st in innings pitched
• 1st in games with 2 or fewer runs allowed
• 1st in WHIP (Walks & Hits Per inning)
• 1st in batting average against

So why did the Tigers miss the playoffs you ask?  Well the main reason is that no pitcher in the American League got worse run support than Verlander.  Twitter user Joe A put together an info-graph that shows a clear, side by side comparison.

Sure, there were a few pitchers with more wins that Verlander, but that's a category that can't be controlled by the pitcher.

Even JV himself took a second to thank people spreading the chart around.

So the big question is, will Verlander win another Cy Young award?  The last time he won the award was in 2011, but he did finish second in 2012.