Top 25 MLB pitching seasons of all time

15. Zach Britton, 2016

• The Numbers: 47-for-47 saves, 0.54 ERA, 1 HR allowed, .209 slugging against, 80% groundball rate

If Zach Britton could not win the AL Cy Young in a year without a single historically dominant starter, than the BBWAA may as well admit that relievers are not eligible to win the award. The only fair comparison to Britton’s success with one pitch, his sinker, is Mariano Rivera and his cutter. Obviously, Britton has a long way to go before he has the career of Rivera.

Britton’s 97-mph bowling ball of a sinker is impossible to hit in the air. No one in MLB history has been so good at getting ground balls. Since becoming a full-time reliever in 2014, Britton has allowed eight home runs and a .505 OPS. He has the second longest save streak in MLB history.

In 2016, Britton led the league in win probability added. He hit the All-Star break having allowed only three earned runs. From May 5 to August 24, Britton did not allow a single earned run. His streak of appearances without allowing an earned run ended after he was called into pitch in a game that had looked like a runaway before a mopup reliever began imploding.

The though that Britton was the most valuable player on the Orioles certainly deserves a second look now. He has battled forearm soreness in 2017, and has missed most of the first half. In his absence, the Orioles have gone into a tailspin. Britton is the glue that holds together their bullpen, and without him, the rest of the relievers have not been able to handle the increased responsibility.