Gerrit Cole (33, New York Yankees), the highest-paid pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), finally won the American League Cy Young Award after coming in second twice. In the National League, Blake Snell (31, San Diego Padres) became the seventh player in history to win both honors.굿모닝토토
“Cole has been named the American League (AL) Cy Young Award winner,” the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) announced on Saturday. Cole was a unanimous winner, sweeping all 30 first-place votes, ahead of Kevin Gausman (Toronto) and Sonny Gray (Minnesota).
Cole becomes the fifth Cy Young Award winner in 22 years and fifth in Yankees history. Bobby Tully and Whitey Ford in 1958 and 1961 (combined), Sparky Lyle in 1977 and Ron Guidry in 1978, and Roger Clemens in 2001 after winning 20 games in the American League.
Cole established himself as the best pitcher in the American League this season. In 33 starts this season, he went 15-4 with a .789 winning percentage and a 2.63 ERA (1st). In 209 innings pitched, he struck out 222 batters and walked just 0.98 batters per inning allowed (WHIP). His other metrics were excellent, including a 0.206 BABIP and 0.581 OPS. His 7.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranked first in the American League, according to Baseball-Reference, and his 5.2 Wins Above Replacement ranked third in the league according to FanGraphs.
Cole was also one of only two pitchers in the American League to reach 200 innings (Toronto’s Chris Bassett had 200). He also had two complete games, and his 33 starts led the league. He’s consistently pitched a lot of innings and delivered quality pitches. His home runs were down from 33 in 200⅔ innings last year to 20 this year. This was the first year that Cole allowed fewer than one home run per nine innings (0.9) since leaving Pittsburgh and reducing his two-seam fastball percentage.
His team, the New York Yankees, posted their lowest winning percentage of the 21st century (.506, 82-80) and finished fourth in the American League East, culminating in their worst season in seven years, missing the postseason. But through it all, Cole continued to pitch his way to the top of the game.
The most expensive free agent pitcher of all time (nine years, $324 million), Cole had never won a Cy Young Award despite his hefty price tag. After debuting with Pittsburgh in 2013, he first finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award in 2015. He then moved to Houston and earned his first three finalist honors in 2019 with a 20-5 record and 2.50 ERA. However, he was edged out by teammate Justin Verlander. In 2021, he again led the league in wins with 16, but this time he was edged out by Toronto’s Robbie Ray (now in Seattle). After two second-place finishes, it took him three tries before he finally took the plaque.
Meanwhile, in the National League (NL), Snell, Kim’s San Diego teammate, won the award. He swept a whopping 28 of the 30 first-place votes, beating out fellow West Coasters Logan Webb (San Francisco) and Zack Gallen (Arizona).
Snell pitched in 32 games this year, going 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA (1st). In 180 innings pitched, she struck out 234 batters for a strikeout rate of 11.7 per nine innings. His command was outstanding, with a .181 batting average and a .579 OPS.
He also became the fifth player in San Diego history to win the Cy Young Award. Randy Jones won the first in 1976, and two years later, in 1978, Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry won the first ever bi-league Cy Young Award. Then in 1989, closer Mark Davis won the award with 44 saves and a 1.85 ERA, and most recently, Jake Peavy in 2007.
Snell, who also won the award in 2018 while with Tampa Bay, became the seventh player in history to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Since Perry’s first accomplishment, only Roger Clemens (six AL, one NL), Randy Johnson (one AL, four NL), Pedro Martinez (two AL, one NL), Roy Halladay (one AL, one NL), and Max Scherzer (one AL, two NL) have won Cy Youngs in both the American League and National League.