As the leaves fall to the ground and the sky turns grey and dreary, most Yankees fans think that represents this 2023 team. But, amidst all the issues, bad signing, poor play and front office nonsense there was one very bright spot this season. Gerrit Cole was worth every penny, and those are a lot of pennies.
Gerrit Cole has just finished the greatest season in Yankee pitching history. Cole ended the season with 15 wins to just 4 losses. A 2.63 ERA, to go along with 222 strikeouts, and an unthinkable 0.98 WHIP. Cole went on to do something that in this day in age is also unthinkable and that is pitch a complete game, in his last start of the season. The more you dig into the numbers the better it gets. He has also been an unstoppable stopper since the All Star break where he had 5 starts pitching 7 innings or more while allowing 3 or less hits and no walks. No other pitcher in the live ball age had done that over an entire season, Cole needed just a half.
Cole should have won the Cy Young a few times now and it has always seemed the anti-Yankee bias to giving awards has reared its ugly head. We saw that with Judge against Altuve, Jeter against Morneu and many times in recent major league baseball history. This season feels different though. It seems Cole left the voters no choice.
For all of the bad contracts on this team and wasteful spending it feels good for Yankee fans to be able to celebrate the very best. Before the season there was the debate about who was the best pitcher in New York. There are no debates anymore. Gerrit Cole is the best pitcher in New York, once he receives his Cy Young award he will cement himself as the best pitcher in the American League and when you compare numbers it's easy to see that he is, in fact, the best pitcher in baseball.
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Gerrit Cole Fires in Pitch in MLB Game at Yankee Stadium in July, 2023
File Photo
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