Zack Wheeler came in second place for the NL Cy Young Award. Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Did Zack Wheeler get snubbed for NL Cy Young Award?

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 11/17/21

Few would dispute that Corbin Burnes had a fantastic season for the Milwaukee Brewers, but there are a number of people unhappy that he claimed the NL Cy Young Award.

Many fans were upset to see Burnes beat out Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler for the NL’s top honors. The biggest argument was that Wheeler’s body of work was much larger than Burnes’. The Brewers ace threw only 167 innings in the regular season, qualifying for the NL ERA title by only five innings. Wheeler’s ERA was higher — 2.78 to Burnes’ 2.43 — but Wheeler posted his mark in 213.1 innings.

This point was argued by many on Twitter, including ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Zack Wheeler threw 27% more innings with an ERA only 12% worse than Corbin Burnes.

Wheeler: 2.73 ERA 213.1 IP
Burnes: 2.43 ERA 167 IP

I’m glad Wins don’t matter anymore for the Cy Young award, but I feel we’ve gone too far.

IP & ERA >>> Under-The-Hood stats for the CY IMO

— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) November 18, 2021

I am admittedly a nerd myself. I am fully on board with analytics. They are vital. They teach you plenty. But anyone who tries to argue that FIP is the most important metric to determine a Cy Young winner and that innings don't matter really should go eat gravel.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 18, 2021

There was ample support for Burnes as well, and not just among voters. His FIP, a popular metric among the stats-oriented crowd, was a miniscule 1.63, significantly lower than Wheeler’s 2.59. That, in the eyes of many voters, made up for the fact that Burnes threw 46.1 fewer innings than Wheeler did.

If Wheeler feels snubbed, we may well hear about it. He hasn’t been shy about blunt public criticism before.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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