Will Shohei Ohtani’s Silver Slugger Triumph Act as a Gateway to Cy Young Glory After an Incredible Two-Way Season?

Star pitcher Shohei Ohtani has been announced as a finalist for the AL MVP Award. Meanwhile, one of his contenders, Gerrit Cole, has been announced as a finalist for his first Cy Young Award. Both pitchers have given countless mesmerizing performances on the field this season. With Ohtani’s recent Silver Slugger win, chances are that he might be pushed a step ahead toward the award himself.

The famous two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani also hit the longest homer of his career (493 feet), sitting with an exit velocity of 115 mph. He won his second Silver Slugger award today. Bagging his first one back in 2021, Shotime’s form has seen considerable development since then. What do the chances of him tapping out the best of the contenders for the Cy Young run look like?

Shohei Ohtani: The Next Cy Young Champion?

Shohei Ohtani will have to compete against the Yankees’ Cole, the Blue Jays’ Gausman, and the Twins’ Gray on the American League front. Amongst the three of them, Cole is proving to be the toughest competitor for Ohtani in their race for the Cyclone. His current form took a back seat with his recent elbow surgery. But Ohtani’s regular and postseason pitching stats can be deemed enough to face Cole’s. What does the report say?

Ohtani had a 10-5 record this season, ending 2023 with a 3.14 ERA across 132 innings. He also threw a one-hit shutout in July of this year. The fan favorite Shotime also finished a complete game and scored two homers on the very same day. That makes him the first player to do all three in the same game in the last 50 years. Sadly, the unicorn had to withdraw from the games in September due to an injury, so it can never be known whether his stats would’ve skyrocketed further or not.

Ohtani vs. Cole: A race of the pitching beasts

On the other hand, Cole has been playing in the big leagues with a 15-4 record and a 2.63 ERA across 209 innings, which looks better than Shotime’s score. Cole threw two majestic shutouts this season, striking out 9.56 per nine innings on average with a total strikeout of 222, compared to Ohtani’s slightly better average of 11.39 per nine with 167 strikeouts in total. Cole wins in the strikeout game here.

Shohei Ohtani has a WHIP of 1.06, a bit lower in performance than Cole’s 0.98. Shohei is 2 points away from achieving superstar pitcher status with his 2023 WAR of 4.00, while Cole has already established his elite status with a staggering WAR of 7.4. Will fans see him making the list of the top 500 pitchers in a single season anytime soon?

Read More: Shohei Ohtani’s Guinness World Record: Everything You Need to Know About the MLB Phenom’s Remarkable Feat

As per the record, Gerrit Cole trumps Shohei Ohtani 5-1 in the Cy Young race. The unicorn might not win this year’s best pitcher award just yet. However, given that he’ll be returning to pitch in 2025, probably in much better form (talk about overachieving!), he might just get one of his own, then!

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