Among NL pitchers who threw 100 innings, Strider led the league by considerable margins in FIP (2.85) and strikeout rate (36.8%), and only seven NL pitchers threw more innings, so this isn’t exactly a stretch. (Dominant starter selected to win pitching award won’t drop any jaws, is the point.) The only reason he didn’t win it in 2023 was the 3.86 ERA, and that was mostly because of a surprisingly high home run rate -- which is one of the least reliable year-to-year metrics. It’s hard to come up with a scenario where picking the best strikeout arm, who is the best pitcher on the league’s best team, is a bad choice.