Yankees Ace Wins First Career Cy Young Award

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole finally claimed a Cy Young, an award that has eluded him several times.

Finally, New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has won his first career American League Cy Young award, which was announced on Wednesday night.

Cole became the sixth Yankee to win the award and received all 30 first-place votes. 

The award is given to each league’s best pitcher. He beat out Toronto’s Kevin Gausman and Minnesota’s Sonny Gray for the award, which was voted upon by the Baseball Writers Association of America and was based on regular-season performance.

Cole has come close to winning the award twice. He finished second in voting in 2019 with Houston after he went 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA. He was second again in 2021 with the Yankees, in which he had an AL-high 16 wins (16-8) with a 3.23 ERA.

He’s finished in the Top 5 in Cy Young voting three other times. He’s a six-time All-Star and has led the AL in ERA twice.

Cole went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 2023, making 33 starts, and his ERA led the American League. He made 33 starts for the second straight season.

He threw 209 innings, giving up 157 hits, 64 runs (61 earned) and 20 home runs. He struck out 222 and walked 48. He finished with a 0.81 WHIP and allowed hitters to bat .206 against him. It was the second straight season in which Cole held batters below a .210 average.

The final major award of the offseason, Most Valuable Player, will be announced on Thursday.

Postseason BBWAA Award Winners

American League

MVP Finalists: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels; Corey Seager, Texas; Marcus Semien, Texas.

Rookie of the Year: Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore.

Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees.

Manager of the Year: Brandon Hyde, Baltimore.

National League

MVP Finalists: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta; Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers; Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rookie of the Year: Corbin Carroll, Arizona.

Cy Young Finalists: Zac Gallen, Arizona; Blake Snell, San Diego; Logan Webb, San Francisco.

Manager of the Year: Skip Schumaker, Miami.