It wasn't a question of whether Sandy Alcantara would win the Cy Young Award, just one of whether he would become the first unanimous winner in the National League since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
Indeed, the Miami Marlins' 27-year-old right-hander swept all 30 first-place votes to beat out Braves' lefty Max Fried and Dodgers' southpaw Julio Urias to become the first Cy Young winner in Marlins history.
In this age of five-inning starters, Alcantara stood out as a unicorn: He pitched 228.2 innings, 23.2 more than other pitcher in the majors, and the most innings since David Price threw 230 in 2016.