How many do you need?

Corbin Burnes won the 2021 NL Cy Young award. However, before the result was announced, many fans were discussing whether throwing considerably fewer innings would become a problem. Well, it turned out that the dominance over 167 innings is convincing. Hence, I was just thinking how many games or innings were enough to win the MVP or Cy Young awards.  From 2000 to 2021, there were two pitchers who won the MVP awards. In 2011, Justin Verlander made 34 starts and threw 251 innings. He finished the season with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. Moreover, Verlander earned 24 wins and those amazing numbers made Verlander the AL MVP. In 2014, the Dodgers began the season in Sydney, Australia. Clayton Kershaw got his first win of the season in Sydney, however, he missed some playing time due to being placed on the DL. In total, Kershaw made 27 starts in 2014 and threw 198.1 innings. He posted a 1.77 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. Additionally, the 2014 NL MVP winner also earned more than 20 wins in this great season. Last season was a shortened season and each team played 60 games. Hence, let’s look at the 162-game season only. This season, AL MVP winner Shohei Ohtani played 155 games and NL MVP winner Bryce Harper played 141 games. And, I was just thinking whether there are any MVP winners who played fewer than 140 games. Well, it happened several times over the last 22 seasons. In 2003, Barry Bonds won his 6th MVP award. In that season, he played 130 games. Moreover, he crushed 45 home runs and collected 90 RBI. In 2009, Joe Mauer was the AL MVP winner. During the regular season, he played 138 games and he slashed .365/.444/.587 with 28 home runs and 96 RBI. The next year, Josh Hamilton became the AL MVP. He finished the season with a .359/.411/.633 slash line in 133 games. Additionally, he smashed 32 home runs and had 100 RBI. And then, Mookie Betts played 136 games in 2018 and he hit .346/.438/.640 with 32 home runs and 80 RBI. He received 28 of 30 first-place votes to win the AL MVP award. In 2019, Mike Trout played 134 games, batting .291/.438/.645 with 45 home runs and 104 RBI. Trout earned 17 of 30 first-place votes and he received his third MVP award. Thus, it’s possible to win the MVP award even though a position player played fewer than 140 games in a single season. Now, let’s look at the Cy Young winners. In the shortened 2020 season, AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber tossed 77.1 innings and NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer threw 73 innings. Is there another pitcher who threw less than 100 innings and won the Cy Young award from 2000 to 2021? The answer is yes. Eric Gagne, who was one of the best closers in the majors, had a great 2003 season. In total, he threw 82.1 Innings in 2003 and recorded 55 saves. His ERA was only 1.20 and his WHIP was only 0.69. However, it’s actually rare to see a pitcher win the Cy Young awards with throwing fewer than 200 innings over the last 22 seasons. Clayton Kershaw won the 2014 NL Cy Young award and he tossed 198.1 innings. Furthermore, Blake Snell threw 180.2 innings in 2018 and he posted a 1.89 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Meanwhile, Snell earned 21 wins. Nonetheless, this year, only 4 pitchers threw at least 200 innings and none of them became the Cy Young winner. This season, AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray tossed 193.1 innings and NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes threw 167 innings. With different strategies of pitcher usage, it shall be common to see a Cy Young winner without throwing at least 200 innings in a single season in the future. However, from 2000 to 2021, it’s not that common to see an MVP winner play fewer than 140 games. Moreover, Barry Bonds was the only player who won the MVP award and played only 130 games. Fernando Tatis Jr. played 130 games this season and he finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting.