Yankees Ace Gerrit Cole Wins Cy Young Award, Achieves Glory as Bombers’ Bright Spot Amidst 2023 Disappointment

The offseason is progressing on a celebratory note. As teams once again battle off the diamond for talented free agents, 2023’s brilliant performances still need recognition. After Corbin Carroll’s much-deserved NL Rookie of the Year, the Cy Young award was next. As expected, it’s Gerrit Cole who has won it! After years of waiting, he has finally done it.

The New York Yankees ace has finally won the elusive and prestigious Cy Young Award for the American League, the first of his career. In an unusually below-average season for the Bronx Bombers, Cole was his usual brilliant self, an extraordinary bullpen leader.

Gerrit Cole becomes first Yankees name since 2001 to win Cy Young

With a .263 ERA, the fourth-ranking AL East club had at least something to boast about. To add a feather to his cap, the Pinstriped ace joins an elite club with this win. He is now the first player in Pinstripes to win a Cy Young Award since 2001.

Twice the runner-up to this title, the Yankees ace is also a 6x All-Star in his 11-year MLB career. With a brilliant display in 2023, is it any wonder he won it unanimously? With this amazing win, Cole has joined the highly exclusive list of legends with this achievement. With only 6 pitchers having this title in over a century-old history of the Yankees, he has made history. The 33-year-old has joined legends like Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford (1961), Sparky Lyle (1977), Ron Guidry (1978), and Roger Clemens  (2001).

Along with the last name, Cole is the only one to have not won the World Series during his Cy Young Award year. And he’s the first who didn’t even play the postseason during that same season. This is an amazing achievement for him for that exact reason. He dominated the league in a team that was clearly not the best one that year. It shows just how crucial his performances were as without him, the Yankees might not have held on to their winning record.

Cole’s epic 2023 season

With 15 wins and 4 losses, Cole had a staggering .789 win percentage. He also led the league with an ERA of 2.63. While all of these are staggering achievements, one of the biggest achievements was that he had 2 shutouts this season. Overall, Cole dominated the entire league with his extraordinary pitching, while remaining constantly available for the team. He pitched for 209 innings, which again is more than anybody else in the regular season this year.

Read more: “She Supported Me Through All”: Yankees’ 6th Cy Young Winner Gerrit Cole Names the One Person He Wants Beside Him

With such consistently great performances, his win is not at all a surprise for the people. Congratulatory messages have begun for the loved Yankees ace as he looks to celebrate this massive achievement. He’ll certainly look to carry forward this form to 2024 to help the Yankees recover from the lows of 2023.

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