PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler came oh so close to becoming the fifth Phillie to win a Cy Young Award.
Wheeler joined eventual National League Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers with 12 first-place votes, according to the Baseball Writers' Association of America's voting records for the 2021 NL award.
However, Burnes' 14 second-place votes were five more than Wheeler's, and it led to the Brewers' ace topping Wheeler by just 10 points in the voting. That's the closest margin of victory since the final ballot expanded to five pitchers in 2010.
Wheeler went 14-10 with a 2.78 ERA (5th in MLB) with 247 strikeouts in 213.1 innings during 32 games started.
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Wheeler led all MLB pitchers in WAR (wins above replacement) with 7.6, ahead of Los Angeles Dodger Max Scherzer (6.0, fourth) and Burnes (5.6, ninth).
He tied for the MLB lead in complete games (three) and shutouts (two). He also threw more innings than any pitcher, with Burnes and Scherzer not even in the top 10.
Burnes, who went 11-5 in 28 starts, led MLB in ERA with 2.43, and Scherzer was right behind in second with a 2.46 ERA.
The Milwaukee starter also led MLB in strikeouts per nine innings (12.6), the ratio of strikeouts per walk (6.9), and the fewest home runs allowed per nine innings (0.4).
Steve Carlton (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982), John Denny (1983), Steve Bedrosian (1987) and Roy Halliday (2010) are the other Phillies to win the National League Cy Young Award.
