Reviewing the Best Dodgers Cy Young Winners
No franchise in Major League Baseball commands the pitching rubber quite like the Dodgers. With twelve awards shared among eight different hurlers across two coasts, pinpointing the best Dodgers Cy Young winners is both an embarrassment of riches and a masterclass in pitching greatness.
If you want the short answer: Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw stand alone at the pinnacle, each claiming three hardware honors with historic efficiency. Yet behind them lies an extraordinary roll call—trailblazers like Don Newcombe, cultural icons like Fernando Valenzuela, and postseason immortals like Orel Hershiser. Here is an honest, era-spanning evaluation of the pitchers who defined Dodgers greatness from sixty feet, six inches away.
Sandy Koufax: The Unanimous Gold Standard
Any honest breakdown of the best Dodgers Cy Young winners starts with Sanford Koufax. Between 1963 and 1966, Koufax put together arguably the most devastating four-season run by any left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Even more striking: he took home the award in 1963, 1965, and 1966 back when Major League Baseball handed out just one combined Cy Young for both the American and National Leagues. Koufax didn't just win; he won by unanimous vote each time.
In 1963, Koufax went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 306 strikeouts, carrying Los Angeles to a sweep over the Yankees. In 1965, he threw 335.2 innings, fanned 382 batters (a modern NL record), and threw a perfect game against the Cubs. His 1966 campaign was his swan song—pitching through crippling arthritic pain in his left elbow, he still authored a 27-9 mark and a minuscule 1.73 ERA.
Koufax’s high arm slot, devastating 12-to-6 curveball, and rising fastball made him completely unhittable in an era of low offense. He stepped away at age 30 at the absolute height of his craft, cementing his reputation as the measuring stick for every ace who followed.
Clayton Kershaw: Modern Mastery and Three Historic Trophies
If Koufax owned the 1960s, Clayton Kershaw was the defining arm of the 2010s. Kershaw matches Koufax with three Cy Young honors (2011, 2013, 2014) and sits side by side with him atop the list of the best Dodgers Cy Young winners.
Kershaw captured pitching's Triple Crown in 2011, leading the NL with 21 wins, 248 strikeouts, and a 2.28 ERA. Two years later, he dropped his ERA to 1.83. But his magnum opus arrived in 2014. Despite missing a month to a strained back muscle, Kershaw compiled a staggering 21-3 record with a 1.77 ERA, a 0.857 WHIP, and six complete games. That performance was so dominant that voters awarded him not only his third Cy Young, but also the National League MVP—making him the first NL pitcher to win both in the same season since Bob Gibson in 1968.
What separates Kershaw from his contemporaries was relentless run prevention during a high-octane offensive era. For seven consecutive seasons (2011–2017), his ERA never rose above 2.53, giving modern Dodger fans a generation of predictable pitching excellence.
Fernando Valenzuela and the Fever of 1981
Statistics tell only half the story when assessing Fernando Valenzuela’s 1981 campaign, but even on paper, it remains unprecedented. Valenzuela remains the only player in Major League history to capture Rookie of the Year and Cy Young honors in the exact same season.
Stepping onto the mound on Opening Day as an emergency starter after Jerry Reuss pulled a calf muscle, the 20-year-old screwball artist from Etchohuaquila, Mexico, fired a complete-game shutout. He went on to win his first eight starts—seven of them complete games, five of them shutouts—yielding just four earned runs over that span.
Valenzuela finished the strike-shortened year with an 8-0 start, an eventual 13-7 record, a league-leading 180 strikeouts, and eight shutouts. Beyond the raw numbers, 'Fernandomania' revitalized the Los Angeles fan base and transformed Dodger Stadium into a multicultural sanctuary. Among the best Dodgers Cy Young winners, no single season carried more cultural gravity than Fernando's 1981.
Orel Hershiser's Improbable 1988 Masterpiece
Orel Hershiser's 1988 season represents the pinnacle of sustained perfection. While he had always been a cerebral sinkerballer, what Hershiser pulled off from August to October in 1988 remains untouched in the annals of pitching.
On August 30, 1988, Hershiser began a run of 59 consecutive scoreless innings, eclipsing former Dodger Don Drysdale's 20-year-old record of 58.2 scoreless frames. Hershiser finished the regular season at 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA and 15 complete games, sweeping the Cy Young ballot unanimously.
He then carried an underdog Dodgers lineup through the postseason, throwing a shutout in Game 7 of the NLCS against the Mets and pitching two complete games in the World Series victory over Oakland. Many aces have won awards; few have carried an entire franchise to a ring on their own right shoulder the way Hershiser did.
The Pioneers and Relievers: Newcombe, Marshall, and Gagné
The Dodgers' Cy Young heritage also features historical firsts and dominant bullpen seasons that round out the elite tier:
- Don Newcombe (1956): When MLB established the Cy Young Award in 1956, Brooklyn's Don Newcombe won the inaugural trophy. 'Newk' went 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA and chipped in at the plate with a .279 batting average and two home runs, taking home the NL MVP alongside the pitching prize.
- Mike Marshall (1974): Relief pitchers rarely sniff the Cy Young today, but Marshall authored a campaign that will never be matched. He pitched in 106 games—all in relief—logging 208.1 innings while racking up 15 wins and 21 saves. He became the first relief pitcher in baseball history to win the award.
- Eric Gagné (2003): Nearly three decades later, 'Game Over' Gagné delivered the single most untouchable bullpen season ever. Gagné went a perfect 55-for-55 in save opportunities, posted a 1.20 ERA, and struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings. His 14.98 K/9 rate overwhelmed hitters and netted him the NL Cy Young as a pure ninth-inning weapon.
Evaluating the best Dodgers Cy Young winners means respecting the depth of this heritage—stretching from 1950s Brooklyn into 21st-century relief dominance.
Frequently asked questions
How many Cy Young Awards have Dodgers pitchers won in total?
Dodgers pitchers have won 12 Cy Young Awards in franchise history, more than any other MLB club. These 12 awards were earned by eight different pitchers: Don Newcombe, Sandy Koufax (3), Mike Marshall, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Eric Gagné, and Clayton Kershaw (3).
Who won the very first Cy Young Award in MLB history?
Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers won the inaugural Cy Young Award in 1956 after finishing the year with a 27-7 record and leading Brooklyn to the National League pennant.
Did Sandy Koufax or Clayton Kershaw have a better Cy Young peak?
It depends on whether you value absolute peak firepower or extended run prevention. Koufax carried heavier workloads (averaging over 315 innings during his three Cy Young years) and led the NL in ERA for five straight seasons. Kershaw, meanwhile, operated under modern bullpen usage, achieving a lower career WHIP, superior strikeout-to-walk ratios, and winning his three awards during an era heavily tilted toward offensive analytics.
Has any other rookie pitcher won the Cy Young besides Fernando Valenzuela?
No. Fernando Valenzuela remains the only rookie pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win both the Rookie of the Year Award and the Cy Young Award in the same season (1981).