So many high-quality MLB pitchers, so few spots.
Starting pitcher: Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians- AL Cy Young and MVP winner? Bieber certainly has a case to sweep both awards, but there’s no denying he was the top pitcher in baseball this season. Bieber finished with an 8-1 record, a 1.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and led all MLB pitchers with 122 strikeouts and 3.2 WAR.
Starting pitcher: Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds- The NL Cy Young is a much tighter race than the AL, with at least four pitchers worthy of taking home the hardware. Bauer is right in that mix after going 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, a .159 average against, and a career-high 36% strikeout rate and career-low 6% walk rate.
Starting pitcher: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets- Winner of the last two NL Cy Young honors, deGrom put together yet another award-worthy campaign, despite often being overshadowed by the never-ending show in the front office. deGrom averaged just under 14 K/9 IP and ended 2020 with a 2.38 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. It was the third-straight season with a WHIP under 1.00 for deGrom.
Starting pitcher: Yu Darvish, Chicago Cubs- The NL leader in fWAR (3.0), Darvish went 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA for Chicago this season, striking out more than 31% of hitters and slashing his already low 7.7% walk rate from 2019 to just 4.7% in 2020. The Yu Darvish we saw during his early days as a Texas Rangers just might be back.
Starting pitcher: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees- Cole may have had a few bumps along the way in 2020, but the Yankees ace still went 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 12 starts. He struck out nearly 33% of hitters he faced and kept opponents under the Mendoza-line for a third-straight season (.197 average against). When New York needed Cole the most, he delivered, giving up just three earned runs across his final four starts (27 IP).
Relief pitcher: Devin Williams, Milwaukee Brewers- Williams put together one of the more remarkable seasons for a relief pitcher in recent memory, going 4-1 with a 0.33 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, and a .089 average against. Opponents recorded just two hits off his elite changeup, which produced a 61% whiff rate.
Relief pitcher: Liam Hendriks, Oakland Athletics- Any team looking to upgrade their bullpen for 2021 doesn’t need to look any further than Hendriks on the free agent market. The 31-year-old finished second to Brad Hand with 14 saves and tied with Devin Williams for the league-lead in fWAR among reliever (1.4). He struck out 40% of opponents, walked just 3%, and ended 2020 with a career-low 1.14 ERA.
Who makes your 2020 All-MLB first team?