Zach Wheeler Deserves Cy Young Consideration

• Zach Wheeler is the only pitcher in 2021 so far to eclipse 200 innings pitched. His reliability needs to be factored in to his chances at the award.

• Wheeler is 14-9 this season, with a 2.83 ERA. Those are some pretty good numbers, but his 231 K’s rank him second in the entirety of Major League Baseball.

• He is having the best season of his career, both statistically and in his reliability. He’s currently fourth on DraftKings Sportsbook at +2500 to win the NL Cy Young award.

Wheeler’s Reliability Must Factor In

When it comes to pure pitcher reliability, no one has been better than the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zach Wheeler. He is the only pitcher in baseball right now to eclipse 200 innings pitched, meaning he’s done what he has over a longer period of time than any other player this season.

And he’s been good. Real good.

The only players even close to him in innings in the National League are Adam Wainwright and Walker Buehler, with 196.1 and 192 innings, respectfully. Only Buehler has a lower ERA than Wheeler of the two, but not by a ton. Wheeler also has 14 wins playing on a Phillies team that is hovering around average, while Buehler’s 14 wins come for the Dodgers, who have one of the highest payrolls in baseball and are always contenders.

At +2500, Wheeler Is Worth A Small Bet

I’m by no means saying Wheeler is going to win the NL Cy Young, but I’m saying that he deserves the attention at the very least. His innings pitched, when combined with his ERA and 1.02 WHIP, boast one of the best stat lines in the majors. It also helps that he’s a strikeout machine, racking up the second most in all of baseball. 

Getting 25/1 at this point seems like a long shot, and it probably is. But it would hurt to put a small wager on him just in case something happens as we get down to the wire here in the 2021 season. It just might pay off for you if an injury occurs to one of the favorites, which right now are Max Scherzer, Corbin Burnes and Buehler. If that happens and Wheeler continues to dominate like he has been, you’ll be glad you laid down a few bucks on him.

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The model has gone 179-131 (57.7%) across all bets in Wheeler's starts for a total return of $1,447!