Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez did not win the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night. That honor, as expected, went to the well-deserving Brewers righty Jacob Misiorowski.

The list went on before reaching Rodriguez: Christopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies earned second place. Then Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jesus Luzardo of the Phillies and Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres.

Rodriguez placed seventh in the voting. He was the last name on the list of vote-getters, receiving only two fifth-place votes.

Arguably, Rodriguez should have placed higher than Miller, who despite an electric season still only pitches one inning at a time. Miller also unanimously won the first-ever NL Reliever of the Year Award.

But to even see Rodriguez's name on this list does speak to the season he had. He was, by far, the most impactful arm on the Diamondbacks' roster, and he did so with one of the most remarkable bounce-back seasons in recent history.

Diamondbacks' Rodriguez places seventh in Cy Young voting after brilliant 2026

The Diamondbacks signed Rodriguez to a lucrative four-year, $80 million deal after the 2023 season. In 2024 and 2025, they did not get the pitcher they had hoped to see. Rodriguez posted back-to-back ERAs over 5.00 and battled injuries throughout.

Ahead of 2026, there was hope for Rodriguez to engineer a bounce-back.

He came into spring training slimmer and more confident, and even secured a historic win for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

The hope was that success, alongside some minor tweaks, would add up to a strong 2026. It was much more than that.

Rodriguez pitched the largest inning workload since 2019 (189.2), making all 32 starts. He posted a 2.89 ERA — the best of his career — in the process. He completed the eighth inning twice, including the deepest start of his career against the Mets on May 10. He earned his first-ever All-Star nod.

And though pitcher wins are no longer the stat that they once were, it's hard to not see the impact in that regard, as well. Rodriguez went 16-7, but beyond his own wins, the Diamondbacks won 23 of his 32 starts, an astounding 23-9 record in games started by the left-hander.

It's tough for Rodriguez to overcome arms like Sale or Misiorowski. His career-low 18.1% strikeout rate did not jump off the page and his 4.27 expected ERA suggested some good luck.

But he also stranded baserunners at an 80.2% clip, mastered the art of changing speeds and contact-focused pitching, and emerged as a reliable ace in a season where the Diamondbacks direly needed it.

To go from dwelling in the basement of ERA standings to a top-10 Cy Young finish in one season is quite impressive.