National League voters got the Cy Young Award right this year. I’m not so sure about their American League counterparts.
Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes not only won the NL’s Cy for 2021, but he also took two of my three annual pitching awards, which are unveiled below. Nobody in either league posted a lower ratio of bases allowed per out (winning the Juan Marichal Award) or a higher number of strikeouts per six innings (the Randy Johnson Award).
But the AL’s Cy winner, Toronto’s Robbie Ray, broke through in only one of my three categories. He worked the most innings per game in his league (the Warren Spahn Award), though he had to share that distinction with New York’s Gerrit Cole. The latter also won the league’s share of the Marichal Award, raising some questions about who really was this year’s best AL pitcher.
Look below for details on each league’s three races for pitching awards. Today’s honorees join the winners of these six hitting awards, who were announced on the previous two Tuesdays. (Click here and here to learn more.)
Ted Williams Award (overall batting): Shohei Ohtani, Angels, in AL; Bryce Harper, Phillies, in NL
Lou Gehrig Award (scoring): Bo Bichette, Blue Jays, in AL; Ozzie Albies, Braves, in NL
Babe Ruth Award (power): Shohei Ohtani, Angels, in AL; Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres, in NL
Nellie Fox Award (contact): David Fletcher, Angels, in AL; Kevin Newman, Pirates, in NL
Rickey Henderson Award (batting eye): Joey Gallo, Rangers-Yankees, in AL; Juan Soto, Nationals, in NL
Willie Mays Award (fielding-batting combination): Marcus Semien, Blue Jays, in AL; Tyler O’Neill, Cardinals, in NL
All three of today’s pitching awards are limited to starters who worked at least 162 innings, which is the official qualification standard for the earned-run-average title.
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Juan Marichal Award (overall pitching)
I have written frequently about my strong belief that BPO (bases per out) is the ultimate indicator of a batter’s effectiveness.
Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani won this year’s Ted Williams Awards by piling up more bases than outs over the long season. Harper’s BPO of 1.184 was the best in the major leagues. Ohtani wasn’t too far behind at 1.067.
We can also use BPO as a tool to measure effectiveness on the mound. The lower the ratio, of course, the better a pitcher is at limiting the damage by baserunners.
This award is named after the great Giants righthander whose career spanned from 1960 to 1975. Marichal posted the best BPO of any postwar Hall of Fame pitcher who recorded at least 10,000 outs. He surrendered only 5,764 bases while amassing 10,622 outs, which translates to a microscopic career BPO of .543.
Burnes did considerably better than that over the short haul. The Brewers ace yielded 230 bases in 2021, while inducing 503 outs. His resulting BPO was a mere .457, easily the best in the National League. Cole won the American League’s version of the Marichal Award with a .567 BPO.
These were the five best pitchers in each league (among those who crossed the 162-inning threshold):
American League
Gerrit Cole, Yankees, .567 BPO
Lance McCullers Jr., Astros, .575
Jose Berrios, Twins-Blue Jays, .588
Frankie Montas, Athletics, .599
Nathan Eovaldi, Red Sox, .624
National League
Corbin Burnes, Brewers, .457 BPO
Brandon Woodruff, Brewers, .492
Max Scherzer, Nationals-Dodgers, .494
Zack Wheeler, Phillies, .501
Walker Buehler, Dodgers, .519
Randy Johnson Award (strikeouts)
Statisticians continue to calculate each pitcher’s ratio of strikeouts per nine innings, though I have no idea why. Who works nine innings anymore? There were only 50 complete games recorded in both leagues in all of 2021.
So I’ve cut the ratio to six innings to determine the winners of this award, which is named after the famed fireballer who registered 4,875 strikeouts between 1988 and 2009. Johnson recorded more than 250 strikeouts in nine different seasons, an accomplishment unmatched in big-league history. Not even by Walter Johnson or Nolan Ryan.
Burnes paced the majors with 234 strikeouts in 167 innings, which translated to 8.41 per six innings. Chicago’s Dylan Cease won the American League’s Johnson Award with a ratio of 8.19 per six. Here are the top five in each league:
American League
Dylan Cease, White Sox, 8.19 SO/6
Gerrit Cole, Yankees, 8.04
Robbie Ray, Blue Jays, 7.70
Lance McCullers Jr., Astros, 6.84
Lucas Giolito, White Sox, 6.75
National League
Corbin Burnes, Brewers, 8.41 SO/6
Max Scherzer, Nationals-Dodgers, 7.90
Aaron Nola, Phillies, 7.41
Yu Darvish, Padres, 7.18
Kevin Gausman, Giants, 7.09
Warren Spahn Award (durability)
Durablity doesn’t mean the same thing today as it did between 1942 and 1965, when Warren Spahn totaled 382 complete games for the Braves, Mets, and Giants.
Managers are happy these days if a starter can work six innings, maybe seven at the outside. So the Spahn Award is given to the pitcher in each league who finishes with the highest ratio of innings per game.
Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler dominated this category with 213.33 innings over 32 starts, translating to an average of 6.67 innings per game. That earned him the NL’s Spahn Award, while Cole and Ray shared AL honors at 6.04.
These were the category’s top five performances — actually six, with ties — in each league:
American League
Gerrit Cole, Yankees, 6.04 IP/G
Robbie Ray, Blue Jays, 6.04
Jose Berrios, Twins-Blue Jays, 6.00
Frankie Montas, Athletics, 5.84
Chris Flexen, Mariners, 5.80
Lance McCullers Jr., Astros, 5.80
National League
Zack Wheeler, Phillies, 6.67 IP/G
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals, 6.45
Walker Buehler, Dodgers, 6.29
Sandy Alcantara, Marlins, 6.23
Max Scherzer, Nationals-Dodgers, 5.98
Brandon Woodruff, Brewers, 5.98