On November 16, Porcello won the 2016 American League Cy Young Award in unique fashion. He became the first pitcher in American League history to win the award despite not receiving the most first-place votes from the BBWAA. Porcello's former teammate with the Tigers, Verlander, received 14 first-place votes to Porcello's 8, but two Tampa Bay writers left Verlander off their five-pitcher ballots entirely. Porcello received the most second-place votes of anyone appearing on a ballot, giving him the award. The final tally of 137 to 132 was the third closest vote since 1970. Porcello's eight first place votes (out of 30 possible) was the third-fewest for a Cy Young Award winner. Porcello became the fourth Red Sox pitcher to win the award, joining Jim Lonborg, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martínez. He also became the first American League pitcher to win the award while posting an ERA higher than 3.00 (coincidentally, no AL starting pitcher had a sub-3 ERA in the 2016 season) and fewer than 200 strikeouts since Bartolo Colón in 2005.