In this Year of the Pitcher, both Robbie Ray and Corbin Burnes completed their own kind of comebacks.
Ray rebounded from a dismal season that saw him take a rare pay cut to win the AL Cy Young Award with Toronto while Burnes returned from an early bout of COVID-19 with Milwaukee to win the NL’s top pitching prize Wednesday.
“Everyone has their story,” Burnes said during a conference call.
Burnes led the majors with a 2.43 ERA and edged out Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler. They both got 12 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, but Burnes drew 14 seconds to Wheeler’s nine.
Burnes pitched 167 innings, the fewest for a Cy Young-winning starter in a non-shortened season, and the right-hander struck out 234. Wheeler fanned 247 — one shy of Ray’s big league-leading total — and topped the majors with 213 1/3 innings.
“Everyone’s case,” Burnes said, “was different.”
Ray was best in the AL with a 2.84 ERA and 193 1/3 innings. That came after a pandemic-shortened 2020 when the lefty went a combined 2-5 with a 6.62 ERA for Arizona and Blue Jays and issued the most walks in the majors.
“I knew … I was going to have to put in some hard work,” Ray said, adding, “I knew I wanted to make changes.”
And in a sign of just how much voters have moved past simply win-loss records while crunching new-era stats, Dodgers lefty Julio Urías posted the most victories in going 20-3, but finished a distant eighth and didn’t get a single top-four nod.
Max Scherzer, who pitched for Los Angeles and Washington, finished third in the NL and Dodgers ace Walker Buehler was fourth.
Bryan Woolston
FILE - Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws during the ninth inning of the team's baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati on July 18, 2021. Burnes won the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)
Burnes became the first Brewers pitcher to earn the NL honor — Pete Vuckovich in 1982 and Rollie Fingers in 1981 won the award when Milwaukee was still in the American League.
Ray got 29 first-place votes and became the first Toronto pitcher to win since the late Roy Halladay in 2003. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole drew the other top vote and finished second and Chicago White Sox righty Lance Lynn was third.
Ray went 13-7 in 32 starts and helped keep Toronto in playoff contention until the final weekend.
Having turned 30 last month, the award sets him up well — a free agent, he turned down an $18.4 million qualifying offer from Toronto earlier Wednesday.
“I’m enjoying free agency,” he said. “The process is a lot of fun.”
Ray said Toronto is “still in the conversation.”
“Obviously, I love Toronto, but we’ll see where things go,” he said.
Burnes was 11-5 and an All-Star for the NL Central champion Brewers. His innings count was lower than his competitors, owing to him missing two weeks in early May after testing positive for the coronavirus.
In his first season as a full-time starter, Burnes struck out a record 58 before issuing his first walk. He tied the major league mark by fanning 10 in a row against the Cubs in August.
Burnes combined with closer Josh Hader on a no-hitter against Cleveland in September. Burnes struck out 14 over eight innings in that game — it was the record ninth no-hitter in the majors this season, topping the eight set in 1884 when pitchers began throwing overhand.
Burnes had an 8.82 ERA in 28 relief appearances and four starts in 2019, then was 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA during the virus-shortened season when he was hampered by an oblique strain. He came back to lead the majors with 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings this year.
“You always have to evolve,” he said.
Voting for the awards was completed before the playoffs began. Burnes threw six shutout innings against Atlanta in the NL Division Series and turned 27 later in October.
Ray’s power arm always drew attention. He ranks No. 1 in major league history with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings (minimum: 1,000 innings), and he was an All-Star with Arizona in 2017.
But controlling his heat and sharp breaking pitches often was a problem, and Ray bottomed out last year.
The dip caused his base salary to drop from $9.43 million to $8 million this year. He earned some of that back with a $125,000 for winning the Cy Young, and figures to cash in even more soon.
Drafted and signed by Washington in 2010, Ray made his big league debut in 2014 with Detroit — that staff also included future Cy Young winners Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello and David Price.
Ray was traded with cash to Toronto on Aug. 31, 2020, for reliever Travis Bergen. Ray was 49-51 with a 4.26 ERA over seven seasons in the majors before this big year.
Ray became the fifth Blue Jays pitcher to win the Cy Young, along Halladay, Roger Clemens in 1997-98 and Pat Hentgen in 1996.
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Bettmann // Getty Images
Baseball is a thoughtful sport marked by a storied history, long seasons, plenty of statistics, and a roster of teams that has grown steadily over time. That has caused some major changes in how the Major League Baseball postseason is structured. For this list of most successful MLB postseason teams, we’ve accounted for the team’s full record, including both regular and postseason games. For some teams, that includes the relatively new division series. For others, it includes only the league championship series and the World Series.
The league’s divisions, teams, and postseason format aren’t the only changes in baseball when these great teams played. The oldest team on the list dates to 1969, the year when both the pitcher’s mound and strike zone shrank to cut down on the dominance of major league pitching. That was also the first year of postseason divisional play. In other seasons, the instant replay was introduced and the number of teams jumped to the current 30.
BestOdds.com calculated the most successful postseason teams of all time in MLB, using data from 100-plus years of Major League Baseball. To calculate the most dominant team, teams that won at least seven games in the postseason (every MLB season after 1968 qualifies) are ranked according to their postseason winning percentage, with ties broken by the team with the most wins during the regular season.
Read on for the 10 most dominant MLB teams in postseason history.
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Jeff Zelevansky // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 78.6%
- Postseason Record: 11-3
- Regular Season Record: 92-70
The Phillies finished the 2008 season with a record of just 92-70, by far the lowest number of regular season wins on this list, so expectations for the postseason were low. They first faced the Milwaukee Brewers for the division title, losing just one game. After that, they won the NLCS in just five games against the L.A. Dodgers. Finally, they faced the Tampa Bay Rays, which had just shed the “Devil” from their name. Maybe it was a mistake as the Phillies took the World Series in five games. Cole Hamels was named MVP as he went undefeated in the postseason, notching a 1.80 ERA.
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Tim Bradbury // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 78.6%
- Postseason Record: 11-3
- Regular Season Record: 108-54
The Red Sox boasted a 2018 regular season record of 108-54, a new franchise record for wins that ousted the old record of 105 that had stood for over a century. They were nearly as dominant in the postseason. First, they faced the Yankees in the ALDS. They had finished a comfortable eight games ahead of the Yankees during the regular season and vanquished the Yanks three games to one. Next, they beat the Houston Astros in the ALCS and then the L.A. Dodgers in the World Series, each time in five games, cementing their status as the year’s best team. Game 5 winner David Price was the Series MVP.
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David Seelig // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 84.6%
- Postseason Record: 11-2
- Regular Season Record: 114-48
The 1998 New York Yankees won the most regular-season and postseason games in MLB history with 125 total wins and just 50 losses. Among those wins, 114 came during the regular season, putting the Yankees a comfortable 12 games ahead of the divisional runner-up Boston Red Sox. In the postseason, the Yankees first swept the Texas Rangers for the ALDS title. After that, they faced a bigger challenge from the Cleveland Indians, which took two games to the Yankees’ eventual four. In the World Series, the Yankees faced the San Diego Padres. Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter led the team on offense; Andy Pettitte’s Game 4 shutout clinched the World Series title.
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Bettmann // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 87.5%
- Postseason Record: 7-1
- Regular Season Record: 100-62
It’s hard to remember now, but the Mets was a young team when they won the World Series in 1969. That year, the National League East was also new. Huge changes shifted the balance of power across the major leagues. The mound was lowered five inches to reduce the dominance of pitchers, and the strike zone was narrowed so that it only stretched from the armpit to the top of the batter’s knees. The changes seemed to serve the “Miracle Mets” well as they shocked the nation by sweeping the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS and then taking four of five games from the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. First baseman Donn Clendenon was named MVP for his Series batting average of .357.
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Focus On Sport // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 87.5%
- Postseason Record: 7-1
- Regular Season Record: 104-58
To date, 1984 was the last time the Detroit Tigers won the World Series. First, the Tigers swept the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. After that, they took the World Series over the San Diego Padres, losing just one of the five games. The team’s roster included relief pitcher Willie Hernandez, who won that year’s Cy Young Award, and Gold Glove shortstop Alan Trammell, who earned World Series MVP honors by batting .450 in the Series. The team was managed by the legendary Sparky Anderson.
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Focus On Sport // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 87.5%
- Postseason Record: 7-1
- Regular Season Record: 108-54
The 1970 Baltimore Orioles dominated the newly created American League East. During regular season play, they finished an astonishing 15 games ahead of the New York Yankees on the strength of 108 wins. At the time, the ALCS was best-of-five, and the Orioles swept the Minnesota Twins in three games. After that, they steamrolled the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series in just five games. The team included first-ballot Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who played for the Orioles for 23 years, a Major League record for players who played for only one team in their career.
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MLB Photos // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 88.9%
- Postseason Record: 8-1
- Regular Season Record: 99-63
By winning 99 games, the 1989 Oakland A’s finished a comfortable seven games ahead of the American League Western division’s runner-up Kansas City Royals. The A’s then beat the Toronto Blue Jays for the ALCS title in just five games, which included their only postseason loss. From there, they had the enviable job of sweeping their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in the World Series, which will forever be known as the Quake Series because a major earthquake (killing 63 people) struck the Bay Area minutes before the start of Game 3. (The Series was postponed by 10 days.) The lineup included all-time greats Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco, and Mark McGwire, although Canseco and McGwire were later implicated in steroid scandals. Pitcher Dave Stewart was that year’s World Series MVP.
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Vincent Laforet // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 91.7%
- Postseason Record: 11-1
- Regular Season Record: 98-64
In 1999, the Yankees won 98 games to squeak past the archrival Boston Red Sox by just four games to win the American League East. That accomplishment came despite winning just four of their 12 regular-season games against the Red Sox. The Yankees swept the Texas Rangers for the division title, winning three games in a row. After that, they faced the Red Sox again in the ALCS, winning four of the five games—and notching their only postseason loss. From there, they swept the Atlanta Braves in a four-game World Series, thanks largely to the brilliant play of shortstop Derek Jeter (that year’s hits leader) and World Series MVP Mariano Rivera, their “lights out” closer.
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Ron Vesely // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 91.7%
- Postseason Record: 11-1
- Regular Season Record: 99-63
In 2005, it had been 88 years since the White Sox won the World Series, marking one of the longest championship droughts on record. They dominated the American League Central all season with a 99-63 record and swept the defending champion Boston Red Sox in three games in the American League Division Series. From there, the White Sox won the ALCS against the Angels, though the Anaheim team did hand Chicago their only postseason loss. Finally, the White Sox swept the World Series over the Houston Astros. With stars such as Paul Konerko, whose five home runs and 15 RBIs—White Sox postseason records—and the brilliance of manager Ozzie Guillen, their success was no surprise.
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Bettmann // Getty Images
- Postseason Win Percentage: 100.0%
- Postseason Record: 7-0
- Regular Season Record: 102-60
In 1976, the Cincinnati Reds swept the National League Championship Series (NLCS) and then the World Series for a total of seven postseason wins and no losses. That was after their runaway dominance of the NL West all season as their record ended up at 102-60. One of the most notable members of this powerful lineup was the not-yet-disgraced Pete Rose. Others included Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Ken Griffey Sr. It was the Reds’ second World Series victory in a row.
This story originally appeared on BestOdds.com and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
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Chris O'Meara
FILE - Toronto Blue Jays' Robbie Ray pitches to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Ray won the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, Nov. 17, bouncing back from taking a rare pay cut after a dismal season to capture pitching’s top prize. Ray became the first Toronto pitcher to earn the honor since the late Roy Halladay in 2003. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
