MLB's Best Pitchers, 2021

This is a very odd year when it comes to the Cy Young Awards.  Ordinarily there's one pitcher who's so dominant that he's not just a lock for the Cy Young, he gets some serious MVP consideration.  Last year, that was obviously Shane Bieber in the American League.  But there wasn't that dominant pitcher this season.  In either league.  Which means both Cy Young races are wide open!

Max Scherzer has had several of those seasons.  That's why he's won three of these things, and it would be more if not for Jacob deGrom.  He had another Max-like year in 2021, especially after he was traded to the Dodgers.  Scherzer went 7-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA in 11 starts for LA.  It's not exactly as if he was struggling in Washington before the trade, either.  Overall, Max ended up 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA and 236 strikeouts.

I'd like to say that makes Scherzer the obvious favorite, but it's really hard to put that label on any of the three finalists.  And it really speaks to the quality of pitching across the entire National League that Scherzer's Dodgers teammates Walker Buehler and Julio Urias aren't even finalists!  Urias was 20-3 with a sub-3.00 ERA for a playoff team.  In any other year, that would be a slam dunk.  Then you had Buehler going 16-4, striking out 212 and holding opponents to a .199 batting average.  Yet he, too, isn't a finalist.

Neither is Kevin Gausman of the Giants.  San Francisco took a chance on Gausman, signing him to a one-year deal.  I think it's safe to say that it worked out.  Gausman went 14-6 and finished fourth in the NL with 227 strikeouts.  More importantly, he didn't miss a start, pitching 192 innings.  Only four NL pitchers were on the mound for more innings than Gausman, including 40-year-old Adam Wainwright, who went 17-7 and threw three complete games.

An argument could also be made that maybe Josh Hader could've been a finalist.  For a closer to be in the Cy Young conversation, he has to have a downright historic year.  That's how Eric Gagne won.  Hader's 2021 wasn't anything like Gagne's 2003.  But it was still mighty impressive.  He went 34-for-35 in save opportunities and had a ridiculous 102 strikeouts in 58.2 innings.

Hader's Brewers teammate Corbin Burnes is viewed as the favorite by many, mainly on the strength of his 234 strikeouts and league-leading 2.43 ERA.  He only pitched 167 innings, though, 12 less than Scherzer and nearly 50 fewer than Zack Wheeler, who led the league with 213.3.  Wheeler also led the NL in strikeouts (247).  It's those two numbers that boosted his candidacy and pushed him to a top-three finish. 

Wheeler and Burnes are also examples of the new way of looking at starting pitchers.  Wheeler was 14-10 and Burnes, who made only 28 starts, had just 11 wins.  But, as we've seen more and more as the years have gone on, the voters don't care as much about wins anymore.  If they did, Urias would be a finalist.

Urias, of course, isn't a finalist.  And a Dodger 1-2 is also impossible.  But a Dodgers finishing No. 1 is a very realistic possibility.  I'd give Max the edge over Wheeler, with Burnes in third.  Here's how my whole ballot would look (remember, for Cy Young, they go five deep): 1. Scherzer, 2. Wheeler, 3. Burnes, 4. Urias, 5. Buehler.

Over in the American League, I have even less of an idea.  Gerrit Cole led the AL in wins, which is something I had no idea about.  Robbie Ray quietly put together a very solid season that had him as the clubhouse leader heading into September.  And Lance Lynn gave the White Sox the ace that they very much needed (even if their starting rotation is actually pretty solid).

So, which one of the three has the edge?  I honestly have no idea!  Because they all had their struggles down the stretch, which opened the door for the others.  Although, if you look at it, even though none of them stood out compared to the other two, all three stood out compared to the rest of the American League.  They were clearly the three best pitchers in the AL this season (not counting the guy who's gonna win MVP and is in a class by himself).

Although, if you look at just his pitching numbers, a case could actually be made for Ohtani to get some Cy Young support.  I'll talk plenty more about his spectacular 2021 season tomorrow, and the pitching numbers are easy to miss because of what he did with the bat.  But, don't forget, he was voted into the All-Star Game at both positions.  This was the first time he was able to do both for the entire year, and Ohtani made 23 starts on the mound.  He went 9-2, struck out 156, and led the Angels in innings pitched.

Houston's Lance McCullers had quite a season, too.  The Astros, of course, were hurting without him the World Series, which showed how important McCullers was to that team this season.  Verlander didn't pitch at all and Zack Greinke spent a good amount of time on the injured list.  Instead, it was McCullers making 28 starts, going 13-5, and striking out 185 for a Houston team that won yet another division title.

Then there are the three finalists.  I'll start with Cole, the former Astro.  Having seen most of his games, I was surprised to see his name among the finalists.  Frankly, I didn't think he was overly spectacular this season.  (But that might just be because of the contract!)  So, yes, I was surprised to see he led the AL in wins.  But, then again, he was the only starter the Yankees could consistently rely on in that Jekyll & Hyde rotation they had going on.

Lance Lynn went from that pitcher every team tried to get at the trade deadline to a genuine ace on a very strong White Sox staff.  Like Byrnes in the National League, his issue could be lack of innings.  Lynn only made 28 starts and didn't even throw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title.  Which helps explain why his record was just 11-6.  Although, he did strike out 176 and post a 2.69 ERA.

Which leaves us with Robbie Ray, who just may end up winning this thing.  Ray had a career year.  One in which he went from solid No. 2 or 3 starter to genuine No. 1 ace.  His 248 strikeouts were the most in baseball.  His 2.84 ERA was best in the American League.  He also threw a league-leading 193.1 innings.  That's what an ace does.  He takes the ball every five days and gives you six solid innings and a chance to win.  Which the Blue Jays did.  Ray was 13-7 this season.

That, for me, is the deciding factor.  Gerrit Cole did exactly what he was supposed to most of the time, but there were definitely games where he did not.  Ray didn't really have that one really bad game all season.  Which is why, amazingly enough, I give him the nod.  1. Ray, 2. Cole, 3. Lynn, 4. McCullers, 5. Ohtani.