Although there were some guys who had quality seasons, there really wasn’t much drama about who was going to win tonight’s American League Cy Young Award. By the time the season ended and folks started doing the analysis thing, it became pretty clear that Robbie Ray had bested the field.
Sure enough, he was the winner over Lance Lynn and Gerrit Cole, with 29 of 30 first place votes:
.@RobbieRay had the season of a lifetime pic.twitter.com/OlKa1a5qDC
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) November 17, 2021
Over in the National League, though, it was a much closer race on paper, with viable arguments for all of Max Scherzer (his stretch run with the Dodgers was absurd), Zack Wheeler (the most production of any starter), and Corbin Burnes (the most dominance in fewer innings).
In the end, it was Burnes’ dominance that got him the call:
.@Burnes16 dominated from start to finish in 2021. pic.twitter.com/OZGWxNh3Fq
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) November 17, 2021
The vote was razor thin, though, with each of Burnes and Wheeler getting 12 first place votes:
Wheeler would’ve been my vote thanks to him doing it over 50 innings(!) more than Burnes, but I do understand that Burnes was just so absurd. Another way to put the difference:
Zack Wheeler threw 27% more innings with an ERA only 12% worse than Corbin Burnes.
Wheeler: 2.73 ERA 213.1 IP
Burnes: 2.43 ERA 167 IPI’m glad Wins don’t matter anymore for the Cy Young award, but I feel we’ve gone too far.
IP & ERA >>> Under-The-Hood stats for the CY IMO
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) November 18, 2021
Anyway, Burnes gets the award, which will increase his price tag in arbitration in the years ahead for the cost-conscious Brewers, so Cubs fans should basically be happy, right?