Burnes Night

 

I still think Zack Wheeler should have won the Cy Young over Corbin Burnes last year. I still think he's a great pitcher, but....I really don't why see voters for things just turn a blind eye to Philadelphia like we're not deserving of shit. I'm tired of them doing it with Embiid and I'm tired of them doing it with Wheels.

But...Corbin Burnes is very, very good. Especially right now. The Brewers are dipping slightly downward as the Cardinals come to take the NL Central back, but Corbin Burnes is not moving. The man has 84 strikeouts right now, which is the most in the NL and the second most in baseball [behind Shane McClanahan]. Burnes has gone from a bullpen piece to a default starter in 2020 to a Cy Young winner, and the fact that he's retained his 2021 energy and his leading his team's rotation while Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta are injured is a very good thing. 

The Brewers rotation is...trying to retain its dominance without Woodruff and Peralta, but it is tricky. With Lauer and Houser, there's not much to worry about, but beyond that? I mean, Aaron Ashby's been starting games, he seems pretty ready, and last week the Brewers got a decent start out of a guy named...uh...Jason Alexander. I really, really hope he becomes a great pitcher for them, because imagine all the post titles I can just fill with Seinfeld references. 'Serenity Now'? 'The Jerk Store Called'? Anything.

What's very funny, though, is that the Brewers have a Cy Young candidate right now and I don't know if it's Corbin Burnes. It might be Josh Hader. Hader has 18 saves in 19 appearances, and has allowed 4 hits and zero runs at all. If he keeps this up the whole season, I think they'll need to give him the Cy for it. Besides, we haven't had a reliever win the Cy Young since Eric Gagne, and I think it's time.

The Brewers themselves have had a rough go of things, and now have to play the Phillies, who are very hot since losing Joe Girardi and sweeping the Angels. So...while the Brewers are the better team, they have the least momentum, and they may need to really hunker down and make sure they don't lose the division to the inevitable Cardinals.

Coming Tonight: A pitcher for a team I really, really don't like writing good things about.