Corbin Burnes is no stranger to making history. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner already has numerous records in Brewers and Major League history. After his performance against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night, Burnes set himself up to do something no other Brewers pitcher has ever done.
Burnes finished his night with the line of seven innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, and six strikeouts. While he did not get the win, the Brewers won in extra innings and Burnes overtook the Major League lead in strikeouts. His 181 strikeouts on the season is the most in baseball.
Per Baseball Almanac, Burnes would be the first Milwaukee pitcher ever to lead the Majors in strikeouts. No Milwaukee pitcher has ever even led his own league in strikeouts.
Now, before you ask about Milwaukee Braves great Warren Spahn, yes he did lead the National League in strikeouts several times. However, that was back when the Braves were in Boston. Spahn led the the NL in strikeouts each season from 1949-1952. The Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953.
Of course, this is no surprise. Burnes is the reigning NL Cy Young winner and should be considered for the award again this year. However, how great he is in terms of Brewers all-time pitchers can really be seen when one looks at where he ranks in important pitching stats among Brewers starting pitchers:
- Career ERA: 3.07 (1st)
- Win-Loss Percentage: .660 (1st)
- WHIP: 1.06 (1st)
- Hits per 9 innings: 6.5 (1st)
- Walks per 9 innings: 2.5 (11th)
- Strikeouts per 9 innings: 12.0 (1st)
The Brewers ace has two years of arbitration left following the 2022 season. This year, he is making $6.5M, which is a real bargain for a Cy Young Award winner. The Brewers have already extended starters Freddy Peralta and Aaron Ashby, but Burnes will cost them much more money.
In an interview after the trade deadline, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio stated that money was not a factor in moving Josh Hader. For years, fans have speculated that the Brewers would trade Hader eventually because they would not want to pay him. If money was not the reason for the trade, there should no reason why they cannot pay Burnes. Hopefully the team feels the same and he will be a career Brewer, much like former teammate Ryan Braun. If not, Burnes could be traded before he hits free agency in 2025.
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