Gerrit Cole has finally done it. For the first time in his career, the New York Yankees ace has bagged the most prestigious individual pitching award, as he's finally secured the 2023 Cy Young Award in the American League.
Cole beat out Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays and Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the honor that had been glaringly missing in the Yankees star's trophy case before finally claiming one this year.
Although the Yankees failed to make the playoffs in the 2023 campaign, there is no denying the huge impact Gerrit Cole made whenever he got his turn on the mound. He finished the 2023 season with a 15-4 record to go with a 2.63 ERA across 209.0 total innings. In addition, he posted a 3.16 FIP, an impressive .0981 WHIP, and a 165 ERA+. Although his strikeout rate went from 32.4 percent in 2022 to 27.0 percent in 2023, Cole managed to improve on his home run rate (2.4%) and walk rate (5.9%). Opposing batters also hit just .206 against him.
It is also worth noting that Cole is the first Yankees pitcher to win the American League Cy Young Award in over two decades. The last time to do it before him was the legendary Roger Clemens in 2001.
Cole will certainly cherish his latest career achievement. After all, he came close to winning it on at least two occasions in the past. He was the runner-up to Justin Verlander in 2019 and to Robbie Ray back in 2021. This time around, voters finally gave him the honor that is now a major defining achievement of Cole's career.