Brewers' Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader honored again for outstanding 2021 with berths on all-MLB first team
Tom Haudricourt
Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader will have to clear more space in their trophy rooms.
The Milwaukee Brewers' pitching ace and closer were honored yet again Tuesday for their outstanding 2021 seasons by being named to the all-MLB first team, comprised of players from both the National League and American League. It was the first such honor for Burnes and second for Hader, who also made the first team in 2019.
Burnes shared first-team honors among starters with Los Angeles’ Max Scherzer and Walker Buehler, Toronto’s Robbie Ray and the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole.
Two relievers were named to the first team, with the Chicago White Sox's Liam Hendriks joining Hader. Two relievers from Los Angeles – the Angels' Raisel Iglesias and the Dodgers' Kenley Jansen – were named to the second team.
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Burnes, 27, was named the National League Cy Young Award winner the previous week, topping Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler – an all-MLB second team choice – in a close race. He became the first Brewers pitcher to win that honor since Pete Vuckovich in the American League on the 1982 World Series team.
Burnes topped the majors with a 2.43 earned run average and also was first with a 1.63 FIP (lowest since Pedro Martinez in 1999), 0.4 home runs per nine innings, 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings and 6.88 strikeout to walk ratio.
Over 28 starts covering 167 innings, Burnes went 11-5 with 234 strikeouts, 0.940 WHIP and .201 opponents batting average. He was part of three history-making events – striking out 58 hitters before issuing his first walk of the season, tying the MLB record with 10 consecutive strikeouts during an Aug. 11 outing in Chicago and pitching the first eight innings of a no-hitter in Cleveland on Sept. 11.
Burnes emerged as the top starter on a Brewers’ staff that ranked second in the NL to Los Angeles. He helped the Brewers surge to the NL Central crown with 95 victories, one shy of the franchise record.
Hader, 27, was named the NL reliever of the year for the third time in four years, extending the Brewers’ four-year run for that award (Devin Williams won in 2020). Used for the first time as a true ninth-inning closer, he compiled a 1.23 ERA over 60 appearances while converting 34 of 35 save opportunities.
In 58⅔ innings, Hader allowed only 25 hits and 24 walks while logging 102 strikeouts, a 45.5% rate that was tops in the majors, and compiled a 0.835 WHIP.