Ex-Marlins All-Star snubs Gerrit Cole for Corbin Burnes in a head-to-head pick, lists multiple reasons for choosing Diamondbacks ace over Yankees star

Starting pitchers Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole have dominated the MLB in the last five years. Since 2020, Burnes has a 52-31 record with a 2.88 ERA and 946 strikeouts in 137 appearances. Cole has a 59-28 record with a 3.12 ERA and 915 strikeouts in 125 appearances during that same span.

Burnes has an upper hand in the head-to-head statistics and that's why he was probably placed one spot above Cole in the MLB top 100 players rankings on Tuesday. While Burnes found himself at No. 25, the Yankees ace was No. 26.

During Tuesday's MLB Network segment, former Florida Marlins All-Star Cliff Floyd shed light on the head-to-head comparison between the two.

"This ain't fun. But I'm going to go with Burnes," Floyd said. "I just think when we talk about velocity and how he has gone down and so on and so forth, he tweaked his cutter. And to me, that made him so much better. He's not going to strike out a lot of guys.

"He understands that it's about location. It's about doing things that you need to do consistently. It's about secondary pitches getting down in the zone, making them look hittable to hitters, and then diving out of the zone.

Floyd added:

"I think he's gotten better when you talk about durability—190+ innings in his last three seasons. Accountability. All these things that you think about as far as being the best in the sport. I think Corbin Burnes is right there, and it's hard to go against Gerrit Cole, obviously. Right. But when you think about what Corbin Burnes has done, I think he pitched with a chip on his shoulder, and he got paid for that."

Alluding to Cliff Floyd's thoughts, Corbin Burnes received a handsome six-year, $210 million deal from the Arizona Diamondbacks this offseason. It was a long time coming for the former Milwaukee Brewers ace as he hopes to continue his good run after turning 30.

Former Mets GM disagrees with Cliff Floyd's assessment of Corbin Burnes better than Gerrit Cole

Former New York Mets general manager Steve Phillips was also part of the segment and contrary to Cliff Floyd's conclusion, he picked Gerrit Cole ahead of Corbin Burnes.

"I'm taking Gerrit Cole," Phillips said. "If he's healthy, give me the strikeout. Give me the guy that, when he's on the mound, you get a swing and a miss. That's Gerrit Cole over Corbin Burnes. I'm going to take Cole."

Both Burnes and Cole are standout pitchers for their respective teams. The margin between them is very close, making them elite pitchers and candidates to get into the Hall of Fame one day.