Zack Wheeler didn’t win a Cy Young Award during the past five seasons, though he came awfully close.
Wheeler finished second in the balloting for the National League’s top pitching award in 2021 and again in 2024. He also received votes in 2020 and 2023.
No matter. Wheeler still ranks as the best righthanded starting pitcher of the half-decade, despite the lack of official recognition.
That assertion can be supported in a couple of ways.
The first is to note that Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies and Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees tied for the most wins (59) by any righty between 2020 and 2024. But Wheeler had a clear edge over Cole in five-year earned run average: 2.94 vs. 3.12.
The second is to use overall base value (OBV), which stacks each pitcher’s output against the performance level of an average major leaguer.
Wheeler allowed opposing batters to reach 1,315 bases in the five-year span, encompassing hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices. If an average pitcher had matched Wheeler’s workload of 829.1 innings, he would have surrendered 1,704 bases.
Wheeler’s total was 389 bases below average, which is good news for any pitcher. That means his OBV for 2020-2024 was plus-389.
Today’s rankings focus on righthanded pitchers who worked at least 500 innings during the five-year span. (The statistics that I analyzed included any relief appearances they might have made.)
Wheeler leads the OBV standings, followed by Corbin Burnes, who went plus-375 for the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles. Third place belongs to Cole at plus-281.
Look below for the the half-decade’s top 10 righthanded starting pitchers. Each is followed by parenthetical stats for 2020-2024 — innings pitched, wins, losses, and earned run average — capped by his overall base value.
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1. Zack Wheeler (IP 829.1, W-L 59-32, ERA 2.94) — OBV +389
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2. Corbin Burnes (IP 816.2, W-L 52-31, ERA 2.88) — OBV +375
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3. Gerrit Cole (IP 759.0, W-L 59-28, ERA 3.12) — OBV +281
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4. Logan Webb (IP 815.2, W-L 53-39, ERA 3.33) — OBV +264
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5. Zac Gallen (IP 735.1, W-L 50-31, ERA 3.34) — OBV +216
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6. Sandy Alcantara (IP 661.0, W-L 33-38, ERA 3.13) — OBV +215
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7. Shane Bieber (IP 514.0, W-L 36-19, ERA 2.91) — OBV +212
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8. Max Scherzer (IP 588.0, W-L 46-23, ERA 3.02) — OBV +201
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9. Aaron Nola (IP 850.0, W-L 51-44, ERA 3.90) — OBV +193
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10. Logan Gilbert (IP 704.1, W-L 41-30, ERA 3.60) — OBV +179
