It will take something short of a miracle for the New York Yankees to make the 2023 MLB playoffs. However, New York ace Gerrit Cole doesn't need to part the sea to win the American League Cy Young Award this season. He does have a realistic chance to win the honor, and if you ask former NY ace CC Sabathia, Cole deserves the accolade regardless of how the Yankees are doing in the season.

“I think he should win the Cy Young,” Sabathia said of Gerrit Cole, per Gary Phillips of the Daily News. “Despite everything that’s going on with the team, he’s been the one guy that, when he’s on the mound, you feel like you’re going to win the game no matter what’s happening with the squad.”

Whether there's some Yankees bias in Sabathia's take or not, it is indeed undeniable that Cole is having another stellar campaign on the mound. Cole is brandishing a 13-4 record with a 2.81 ERA to go with a 155 ERA+ and 1.047 WHIP through 21 starts.

“You know what I love about him? He takes the ball every fifth day,” Sabathia added. “Like you never hear scratched start or woke up with a sore neck or any of that s–t. When it’s his day to pitch, he’s pitching, and I love that about him. He’s always been like that.”

Sabathia is a former Cy Young winner himself, so he knows what it takes to win the award that he bagged in 2007.

Gerrit Cole is one of the greatest hurlers of his generation but is also still missing a Cy Young Award on his resume.