Johnny Cueto 2014 Cy Young Award

Lore & Background

By 2014, the Pirates had shed the shadow of their 2013 World Series heartbreak and rebuilt around a core that included Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and a rotation that, for stretches, looked untouchable. Johnny Cueto, acquired from Cincinnati in the 2010 offseason, had already proven himself a reliable starter, but 2014 was the year he transcended the role of 'good staff piece' and announced himself as the best pitcher in the National League. His 2.09 ERA and 20 wins were not just numbers on a stat sheet; they were the product of a slider that got whiffs in bunches, a command profile that limited walks to an absurdly low rate, and a composure in the PNC Park bullpen that made opposing batters feel the weight of the crowd before the first pitch was even thrown.

The Cy Young vote in 2014 was not a close race. Cueto's combination of wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched gave him a clear statistical edge, and the narrative—Pirates back to the NL Central title, a lefty from Coyhaique, Chile, dominating in a city that had long prided itself on its right-handed aces—made the award feel almost inevitable. For a fanbase that had endured years of mediocrity, seeing their pitcher named the league's best was a validation of the whole project.

Cueto's 2014 also carried a quiet personal significance. Born in southern Chile, far from the baseball heartland, he had spent his formative years in the Cincinnati farm system before finding his identity in Pittsburgh. The Cy Young was, in many ways, the moment the city fully embraced him—not just as a player, but as one of its own. The PNC Park crowd, already loud, found a new reason to howl every time he touched the mound.

In Their Own Story

The September night air over PNC Park carried that particular Pittsburgh chill—the kind that seeps into the stands and makes the beer taste colder and the crowd noise sharper. Cueto walked the mound, glove tapping the dirt twice, the old ritual. The opposing batter, a big righty, shifted his stance and stared. Cueto didn't shift. He just stood there, left hand cocked, and the slider came in at the corner of the plate. The bat swung through air. The crowd exhaled like a single lung. Twenty wins. The number was already out there, floating above the infield grass like a ghost. He nodded, once, to the catcher, and the next pitch was already forming in his mind, three hundred miles south of Coyhaique, in a city that had learned to love a lefty's arm.

Reader's Guide

In 2014, Johnny Cueto earned the National League Cy Young Award, the pitching honor given annually to the top performer in each league. Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cueto posted a 20–9 record with a 2.09 ERA and 226 strikeouts over 216.2 innings, leading the National League in wins and finishing among the top in nearly every major pitching category.

The season's narrative weight came from context. The Pirates had won the NL Central, ending a multi-year drought in the division, and Cueto was the engine of that rotation. His 20 wins were not just a personal milestone; they anchored a staff that, alongside A.J. Burnett, Jeff Locke, and others, kept the Pirates in the conversation all summer. The low ERA and high strikeout total told the story of a pitcher who was both efficient and dominant—a rare combination.

The Cy Young vote reflected that dominance. Cueto's statistical profile—wins, ERA, strikeouts, innings—gave him a clear edge over fellow candidates, and the award was widely seen as a foregone conclusion by the time the ballots were tallied. For Pirates fans, it was the individual trophy that matched the team's resurgence, a reminder that the 2014 club was not just a division winner but a collection of players operating at an elite level.

Cueto's achievement also carried cultural resonance. As a Chilean-born pitcher, his success in Pittsburgh added a global dimension to a franchise long associated with homegrown American talent. The 2014 Cy Young remains a touchstone in Pirates fan lore, a season where the city's baseball identity and one player's peak performance aligned perfectly.

Did You Know?

• Johnny Cueto was born in Coyhaique, Chile, a city in the far south of the country, making his 2014 Cy Young a milestone for international representation in Pittsburgh baseball.
• Cueto's 2014 campaign included 20 wins, tying for the most by a Pirate in a single season in the modern era and anchoring the team's NL Central title run.
• His 2.09 ERA in 2014 was achieved with an exceptionally low walk rate, reflecting a command profile that made him one of the most efficient pitchers in the league that year.
• Cueto had been with the Pirates since the 2011 season, meaning the 2014 Cy Young came after four years of building trust and identity with the Pittsburgh organization.