The 33 year old Yankees’ ace, Gerrit Cole aced the test earning the 2023 American League Cy Young award, his first, making him the second player in Yankees’ history behind Ron Guidry (1978) to earn the award with 100% of the votes, and the sixth Yankees' pitcher overall to win the award.
What is the Cy Young?
The Cy Young Award was created by former MLB Commissioner Ford Rick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955. The award was to be given annually to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), and later in 1967, it was changed to award one pitcher in both the American League (AL) and National League (NL).
The award is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with one representative from each team, totaling 30 votes.
All MLB Cy Young Award Winners
Cole’s Campaign
There was never a question, for me, as to whether Cole had completed the mission for the esteemed award. Despite a historically bad season for the Yankees, the ace had an outstanding one. In his fourth season with the Yankees, Cole went 15-4 in 33 starts with a 2.63 ERA, which led the AL, and was the lowest by a qualified Yankee since Rudy May (2.46) in 1980.
Of his 33 starts, he allowed just two runs or fewer in 26 of those appearances, which was the most in all of the majors. In his 209 innings pitched, he gave up 157 hits, 64 runs and 20 home runs. He retired 222 batters and walked just 48. He finished with a 0.81 WHIP, allowing his opponents to bat .206 against him. This was his second straight season of which he held batters below a .210 average.
While this is Cole’s first Cy Young, he has been the runner-up twice. Cole has made six All-Star Game appearances, and was named the 2023 All-Star Game AL starter. He has also led the AL in lowest ERA twice — in 2019 (2.5) and 2023 (2.63).
“We've had great pitchers in and out of this place, leaders on and off the field,” Cole said. “Those are people who set a really high example and a really high bar of what it means to be a great Yankee.
In addition to being named the 2023 AL Cy Young winner, Cole was also nominated for MLB All-Team and was named the 2023 AL Outstanding Pitcher. He also is the franchise record-holder for strikeouts in a single season for both the Astros (2019) and the Yankees (2022), with 326 and 257 respectively.
Cole’s Teammates React
Our Cy Guy.
Congratulations to the unanimous American League Cy Young! pic.twitter.com/wlT5GcUMul
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 16, 2023
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