It’s official. Your 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner is Milwaukee’s very own, Corbin Burnes.
Burnes is the third in franchise history to claim the award; The first since Pete Vuckovich in 1982. The only other Brewer to win this award was in 1981 when Rollie Fingers also won the AL MVP. Last season, he finished 6th in the Cy Young voting.
Burnes beat out Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies by 10 points, and Max Scherzer of the Los Angeles Dodgers by 38 points. The 26-year-old received 12 of the 30 first place votes, tying with Wheeler.
A Historical Season
The Cy Young discussion really began with Burnes back when he recorded 58 strikeouts before issuing his first walk. Corbin Burnes went 11-5 with an ERA of 2.43 in 167 innings across 28 starts this season. Respectively, he led the Major League in ERA (won the ERA title), FIP (1.63), strikeout rate (35.6), barrel rate (2.9%), and K/BB ratio (6.88). Burnes’ 1.63 FIP is also the second lowest since 1969, right behind Pedro Martinez’s 1.39 in ’99.
Along with recording 58 strikeouts before issuing a walk, he also struck out 10 straight in a game against the Chicago Cubs, and was apart of the second no-hitter in franchise history. Burnes did have a slight disadvantage this season and that was his innings pitched (167), but that was due to him being on the COVID-19 list.
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In addition to Burnes winning this award, ace Brandon Woodruff finished 5th in the ballot with two 4th place and 17 5th place votes. The pitching in Milwaukee this season was arguably the best in all of baseball. Their starters, mainly the three of Peralta, Woodruff, and Burnes, carried the team to success and an NL Central Division title. Burnes became the first pitcher in modern history to finish in top 3 of each statistical category (Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info)
A HUGE congrats to Corbin Burnes on this amazing honor. Well deserved for a pitcher who has worked so hard to be the successful pitcher we all know and love today.
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