Rick Porcello was the No. 4 starter when the Red Sox came out of spring training last season. He had been hit hard several times and the coaching staff was concerned enough to slot Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly ahead of him.

But by the time April was over, the Red Sox had won all five games Porcello started as he allowed 10 earned runs. It was the start of a special season that culminated Wednesday when Porcello won the American League Cy Young Award.

Porcello was on camera from his parent’s home in New Jersey when the news was revealed on MLB Network. His customary stoicism cracked, Porcello smiling before he was swarmed by family and friends.

“Obviously there’s a lot of emotions kind of built up inside of me that came out. Being able to share that moment with my mother and father and two brothers, I don’t think you can put that into words how special that was for me,’’ he said.

“It was hard not to start bawling crying right on the spot. It was an unbelievable feeling.’’

In a historically close race, Porcello received only eight first-place votes from a panel of 30 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. But his 137 points were enough to top Detroit’s Justin Verlander, who had 132 points and was first on 14 ballots. Cleveland’s Corey Kluber was third.

It was the tightest finish since David Price won the 2012 AL Cy Young by four points over Verlander.

Porcello was the first Cy Young winner without the most first-place votes in American League history. It happened twice in the National League, the last time in 2009 when Tim Lincecum edged Adam Wainwright.

Porcello was 22-4 with a 3.15 earned run average in 33 starts. The righthander led the majors with a 5.91 strikeout to walk ratio and had a WHIP of 1.009.

Porcello pitched at least six innings in 30 starts and allowed three or fewer earned runs 27 times. The Red Sox were 25-8 in games he started, 17-3 in the last 20 as they won the American League East.

All 30 voters had Porcello among their five choices. But the two representatives of the Tampa Bay chapter — Bill Chastain of MLB.com and Fred Goodall of the Associated Press — excluded Verlander entirely.

Verlander’s fiancee, model Kate Upton, blasted the decision over Twitter.

“Sorry Rick but you didn’t get any 1st place votes? You didn’t win. #ByeFelicia @MLB keep up with the times and fire those writers,’’ she wrote.

“ByeFelicia’’ is slang for dismissing someone as irrelevant.

In an earlier tweet, Upton used crude language to criticize Major League Baseball, which was not involved in the voting.

Porcello laughed at the reaction.

“I honestly don’t care,’’ he said. “I’m not the one who made that decision as far as who wins the Cy Young. All I know is I have a lot of people around me right now that I love very much and have been instrumental in my success in getting to this point.

“On top of that we have some really good bottles of wine that still need to be drunk. There’s really not a concern in my mind.’’

Porcello, who turns 28 next month, is the first Red Sox pitcher to win the Cy Young since Pedro Martinez in 2000.

Until Wednesday, the only pitchers in franchise history to win the award were Jim Lonborg (1967), Roger Clemens (1986-87, ’91) and Martinez (1999-2000).

“Pretty incredible,’’ Porcello said. “It definitely doesn’t feel right right now. I grew up watching [Clemens and Martinez]. Those were my idols growing up. Have the utmost admiration for what they’ve done in the game.’’

Before last season, Porcello was seven games over .500 in his career with a 4.39 ERA. He was a reliable starter but always one overshadowed by others.

That started to change in the final weeks of the 2015 season and continued into ’16 as he challenged hitters with his fastball while still being able to throw an effective sinker when needed. His confidence grew with every outing.

When Porcello won his 20th game on Sept. 9, he realized that the Cy Young was possible.

“You win 20 games in the big leagues and not a lot of people have done that. That’s a huge accomplishment,’’ said Porcello, who will receive a $100,000 bonus from the Sox. “That’s something that is the benchmark directly associated with the Cy Young.’’

From the All-Star break on, Porcello had a feeling of invincibility on the mound.

“I had the weapons this year and the command to get out just about any guy that I was going to encounter in any lineup,’’ he said. “I had nothing to worry about going into a start after that. I tried to maintain that confidence and consistency and not get complacent.’’

In Detroit, Porcello played six seasons with Verlander and five with Max Scherzer, who won the National League Cy Young in a runaway. Scherzer, now with the Washington Nationals, was happy to share the spotlight with Porcello.

“Where he’s come from and what he’s been able to achieve . . . it was pretty cool to watch what he was able to accomplish,’’ he said.

The Most Valuable Player awards will be announced on Thursday. Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts is a finalist in the American League.