Corbin Burnes of the Baltimore Orioles named the American League Pitcher of the Month for September; Nick Martinez of the Cincinnati Reds named the National League Pitcher of the Month for September

October 1st, 2024

Starting pitcher Corbin Burnes of the Baltimore Orioles has been voted the American League Pitcher of the Month for September, and starting pitcher Nick Martinez of the Cincinnati Reds has been named the National League Pitcher of the Month for September. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Burnes earned his second career Pitcher of the Month award after previously winning as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers last July. He is the first Orioles pitcher to win the award since Erik Bedard in July 2007, snapping the longest active streak without a Pitcher of the Month award for any Major League club. Burnes is the 13th Baltimore pitcher to win the award overall, and the first Orioles right-hander to win the award since Ben McDonald in April 1994. Martinez earned his first career honor and is the first Reds pitcher to win since Trevor Bauer in September 2020 during his NL Cy Young campaign. Overall, Martinez is the 16th Cincinnati pitcher (17th occurrence) to win the award.

Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles (@corbinburnes)
• Across six starts, the 29-year-old went 3-2 with a 1.20 ERA (4 ER/30.0 IP), eight walks, 31 strikeouts, a 0.93 WHIP, a .194 opponents’ average and 9.30 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The California native ranked third in ERA among all Major League pitchers; ranked seventh in the AL in opponents’ average; and eighth among AL pitchers in WHIP.
• The four-time All-Star posted back-to-back starts of 7.0 scoreless innings on September 14th at Detroit and September 20th against Detroit, allowing just five hits with 15 strikeouts across the two starts. Burnes was the first Orioles starter with back-to-back scoreless starts of at least 7.0 innings since Kyle Bradish in 2022, and he became the first Baltimore starter since Bedard in July 2007 with consecutive starts of at least 7.0 scoreless innings and at least seven strikeouts.
• The 2021 NL Cy Young Award- winner with the Brewers now carries a 2.33 ERA for his career in September, marking his lowest of any single month. Among all active Major League pitchers with at least 100.0 career innings in September, his ERA is third-lowest, trailing only Aroldis Chapman (2.15) and Blake Snell (2.24). His .198 opponents’ average in September is sixth-best among active pitchers with at least 100.0 career innings in September and third-best among starters.
• The fourth-round selection in the 2016 Draft by Milwaukee threw at least 5.0 innings in 31 of his 32 starts this season, the most of any Major League pitcher. Since he became a regular starter in 2021, his 115 appearances of at least 5.0 innings are the most in the Majors and his 87 appearances of at least 6.0 innings since 2021 are tied second with Logan Webb for second behind only Zack Wheeler (93). Overall, he made 23 starts of at least 6.0 innings and nine starts of at least 7.0 innings this season.

Nick Martinez, Cincinnati Reds
• Across five starts, the 34-year-old went 4-1 with a 0.83 ERA (3 ER/32.2 IP), four walks, 30 strikeouts, a 0.67 WHIP, a .161 opponents’ average and 8.27 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Florida native led the Majors in ERA and WHIP; tied for the Major League lead in wins; ranked fifth in opponents’ average; and tied for seventh in innings pitched.
• The 18th-round selection in the 2011 MLB Draft by Texas won a career-high four consecutive games to open the month, tallying wins on September 4th against Houston; September 9th at Atlanta; September 14th at Minnesota; and September 20th against Pittsburgh, tying a career high with nine strikeouts. Martinez was one of three Cincinnati pitchers to win at least four straight games this year, joining Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo.
• The Fordham University product allowed just two hits with no walks across 6.0 strikeouts on September 20th, marking his second start of two-or-fewer hits allowed, no walks and at least 6.0 scoreless innings (also: 8/10 at MIL). His two such starts this season are tied for the most by a Reds pitcher since 1901 with Hunter Greene (2022) and Gary Nolan (1972).
• The seven-year veteran threw his first career complete game on Friday at Chicago, allowing one run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts, taking a tough loss as the Cubs beat the Reds, 1-0. He became the first Reds pitcher since Homer Bailey on July 31, 2018 to throw a complete game while being tagged with the loss.

Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included Ronel Blanco (4-0, 0.75 ERA, 5 G, 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 16 H, 11 BB, 25 SO) of the Houston Astros; All-Stars Cole Ragans (1-0, 1.08 ERA, 4 GS, 25.0 IP, 14 H, 11 BB, 26 SO) and Seth Lugo (2-1, 2.28 ERA, 5 GS, 27.2 IP, 21 H, 4 BB, 26 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; AL Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal (2-0, 1.52 ERA, 4 GS, 23.2 IP, 18 H, 2 BB, 27 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; Bryce Miller (2-1, 1.52 ERA, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 16 H, 12 BB, 28 SO) and George Kirby (4-1, 3.00 ERA, 5 GS, 30.0 IP, 23 H, 2 BB, 26 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; and Gerrit Cole (3-2, 2.53 ERA, 5 GS, 32.0 IP, 16 H, 7 BB, 30 SO) of the New York Yankees.

Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included rookie All-Star Shota Imanaga (4-0, 1.67 ERA, 4 GS, 27.0 IP, 18 H, 5 BB, 26 SO) and Jameson Taillon (3-0, 0.84 ERA, 5 GS, 32.0 IP, 20 H, 7 BB, 21 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; Jose Quintana (3-1, 0.72 ERA, 4 GS, 25.0 IP, 15 H, 6 BB, 23 SO) of the New York Mets; All-Stars Max Fried (3-2, 2.14 ERA, 5 GS, 33.2 IP, 26 H, 7 BB, 36 SO) and NL Triple Crown winner Chris Sale (3-0, 1.13 ERA, 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 18 H, 5 BB, 28 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; Zac Gallen (4-0, 2.67 ERA, 5 GS, 27.0 IP, 17 H, 11 BB, 38 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Blake Snell (3-0, 1.00 ERA, 4 GS, 18.0 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 31 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; All-Star Zack Wheeler (3-1, 2.23 ERA, 5 GS, 32.1 IP, 20 H, 7 BB, 41 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; and MacKenzie Gore (2-1, 1.26 ERA, 5 GS, 28.2 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 35 SO) of the Washington Nationals.