Corbin Burnes and Robbie Ray Named Cy Young Award Winners

Robbie Ray with Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019
Robbie Ray with Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. Photo by Albert Pena/CSM/Shutterstock (10340470c)

The MLB unveiled this year’s Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Corbin Burnes was named the National League’s best pitcher while the Toronto Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray took home the award for the best pitcher in American League.

Burnes started 28 games for the Brewers in 2021 and went 11-5 with 234 strikeouts while boasting an MLB-best 2.43 ERA. He finished at the top of NL Cy Young Award voting with 12 first-place votes and 151 points. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler had the same number of first-place votes from Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters but finished with a total of 141 points due to lower placement on other ballots.

Burnes became the first Milwaukee player to get the award since the franchise moved to National League in 1998. Overall, he is the third Brewer to receive the honor, following Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers (1981) and Brewers Wall of Honor member Pete Vuckovich (1982).

Ray, on the other hand, was a runaway AL Cy Young Award winner after delivering a 13-7 record and leading the American League in games started (32), ERA (2.84), and strikeouts (248). The 30-year-old received the honors almost unanimously, picking up 29 first-place votes out of 30. The only remaining first-place vote went to New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Ray is the fourth Blue Jays player to receive the Cy Young award. Roger Clemens won it in 1997 and 1998, while Pat Hentgen took one the year before. Roy Halladay was the most recent winner in 2003.

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