NEW YORK -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello has won the American League Comeback Player of the Year award, while Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon received the National League honor.
Porcello also won the Cy Young Award in his second season with the Red Sox, helping Boston to its second AL East title in four seasons. The right-hander went 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA over 33 starts. Porcello bounced back after going 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in 2015. His 22 victories led the majors.
"I think the consistency of quality strikes was the biggest improvement, just being able to do that game after game in tough situations that you encounter," Porcello told the MLB Network. "I was able to stay in my delivery, stay in my head, just throw strikes. I was able to get out of situations that I wasn't getting out of the in the past, minimize damage.
"The things that I can control -- limiting my walks, establishing strike one and getting ahead of hitters ... varying eye levels -- a bunch of things that I tried to incorporate into my game plan this year. Just focusing on things I can control and not letting anything else affect me."
Rendon hit .270 with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs in 156 games in his fourth season. He had a .348 on-base percentage and a .450 slugging percentage to help the Nationals win the NL East for the second time in three seasons. Rendon was limited to 80 games in 2015 because of injuries.
"I'm not a very boastful person," Rendon told MLB Network. "Of course, there are times you are excited and happy about whether you have a good game or not. But I don't want to be that person that boasts about himself day in and day out. I try to stay away from [the media] as best as I can. ... It's going to help me humble myself and not make my head any bigger than it already is."
Major League Baseball announced the winners Tuesday. The awards are voted on by the 30 team beat writers from MLB.com.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.