Gerrit Cole Wins First Cy Young Award Due To Brilliance Of 2023 Season

New York Yankees right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole has won the 2023 American League Cy Young Award. A first-time winner of the prestigious pitching accolade, Cole received 30 first-place votes (210 total points). According to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), Cole’s victory marks the 12th time an American League pitcher was a unanimous selection. He joins left-handed pitcher Ron Guidry (1978) as the only two Yankees who have achieved this impressive feat.

Cole ended a drought that had spanned 21 seasons for the Yankees. The last time they could boast of a Cy Young Award winner was Roger Clemens (2001). Alongside Clemens, Cole, and Guidry, three other pitchers have won the award while wearing the venerable pinstripes: Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford (1961), and Sparky Lyle (1977). Ironically, four of the six pitchers also started an All-Star Game for the American League in the same season in which they had won the Cy Young Award according to Baseball-Reference. While Cole had started his first All-Star Game this past summer, he is the only one in this pitching sextet who won the Cy Young Award but didn’t play on an American League pennant-winning ball club in the same season.

Until now, Cole had wrestled with the “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” reputation as being one of the best pitchers in baseball who never won a Cy Young Award. He was being compared to the likes of Juan Marichal and Nolan Ryan since both Hall of Famers never won the sport’s top pitching honor. In his first 10 major league seasons, Cole had finished in the top five in voting on five occasions (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) while pitching for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a runner-up twice in the American League voting (2019, 2021). While the mystery remains as to why it took so long, Cole now joins the likes of Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Whitey Ford who were first-time winners in their age-32 seasons.

Those who subscribe to the “back of the baseball card” philosophy must be enamored with Cole’s accomplishments this past season when it comes to victories (15), strikeouts (222), games started (33), innings pitched (209.0), and winning percentage (.789). He posted the lowest earned run average (2.63) in the American League among qualified pitchers according to Baseball-Reference. This is significant given the last time a Yankees pitcher sat atop the leaderboard in this statistic was back in 1980 courtesy of Rudy May (2.46). Cole has also posted the lowest earned run average by a qualified Yankees pitcher for a single season in the Wild Card era (1994-present), excluding the abbreviated 2020 season.

His dominance extends well beyond traditional statistics. Based on Baseball-Reference’s calculation of the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic, Cole’s 7.4 WAR for pitchers was the best in Major League Baseball. His 0.981 walks and hits per inning pitched was not only the best in the sport but also supported the narrative of how effective Cole has been when it comes to minimizing traffic on the base paths. His adjusted earned run average of 165 led the American League and was 65% better than the major league average which accounts for external factors such as ballparks and opponents.

In an era of innings limits and pitch counts, voters found tremendous value in Cole’s penchant for durability as evident in his desire to pitch deep into ball games. Besides leading the American League in innings pitched and earned run average, Cole had successfully completed at least seven innings pitched and surrendered no more than two earned runs in a game on nine occasions according to Baseball-Reference. While the quality start statistic has its inherent flaws, there is still something to be said for a starting pitcher who can go out every fifth day and give a ball club at least six innings while surrendering three earned runs or less in a game. Cole’s 24 quality starts not only led the American League, but he was tied with right-handed pitcher Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants for the most in Major League Baseball.

Hitters were often befuddled by Cole whether it was a byproduct of tunneling that featured a repertoire of five pitches or the explosiveness of his four-seam fastball elevated in the strike zone. Cole’s work ethic is nearly impossible to replicate as he strives for perfection with every pitch. A natural blend of intensity and intelligence, Cole can dissect an opponent’s lineup with tremendous precision as he relentlessly attacks the weaknesses of a hitter. Nothing is ever wasted with Cole when it comes to pitches, movement, and thought.

Since joining the Yankees in 2020 through the conclusion of the 2023 season, Cole has led Major League Baseball in strikeouts (816) and innings pitched (664.0) over 108 starts according to Baseball-Reference. He is the only pitcher in both leagues to have struck out at least 220 batters in each of the past three seasons. Cole recorded his 2,000th career strikeout on May 23rd against the Baltimore Orioles. His third consecutive season of at least 200 strikeouts is the most in franchise history.

Cole is now the second pitcher who was a first pick in Major League Baseball’s draft to win a Cy Young Award. Left-handed pitcher David Price won his Cy Young Award in 2012 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. Price was the first pick in the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt University. In the 2011 draft, Cole was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the University of California, Los Angeles. Upon completion of the 2023 season, Cole’s 41.2 WAR for pitchers based on Baseball-Reference’s calculation of the statistic is the highest of any pitcher selected with the first pick in the draft.

A decade of dominance by Gerrit Cole is finally rewarded with his first Cy Young Award. Besides being an indispensable asset for the New York Yankees, he is Major League Baseball’s platinum standard when it comes to starting pitchers. As the Yankees embark upon a pivotal offseason where change is necessary after a disappointing 82-80 record, Cole elicits feelings of trust amid uncertainty. However, the Yankees can ill afford to waste another season of Cole’s brilliance amid complacency and delusion.