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Justin Verlander named finalist for 2012 American League Cy Young Award

The Baseball Writers Association of America named Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander one of three finalists for the 2012 AL Cy Young Award.

By Dave Ryan
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

After yet another elite season on the mound, Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander was tabbed as one of three finalists for the 2012 American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, according to the team's official Twitter account.

Verlander won 17 games and tallied a league-best 239 strikeouts over 33 starts this year for manager Jim Leyland's Tigers, and capped off his impressive regular season with a sparkling 1.93 earned-run average and 5-1 mark in the month of September. While he wasn't able to replicate his statistics from his MVP-winning campaign a year ago, the 29-year-old Verlander's Wins Above Replacement (WAR) number dropped only slightly from 8.3 to 7.5 in 2012

With a great chance to go back-to-back, Verlander was joined by both Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels and David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays as finalists for this year's award. The duo tied for the AL lead in wins with 20, but each came up well short of Verlander in both strikeouts and innings pitched. The official winner will be revealed on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. ET, and will be announced live on MLB Network.