New York Yankees’ right-hander Gerrit Cole and San Diego Padres’ left-hander Blake Snell were named the winners of the 2023 Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
Cole took the American League honors while Snell won in the National League. Both were favored to win the award at the end of the season.
A six-time All-Star and two-time ERA title winner, Cole has finished as a Cy Young runner-up twice and finally wins the award this time around.
Cole led the AL in ERA (2.63), innings (209), WHIP (0.98), and opponents’ batting average (.206). He also finished with 5.2 WAR, a 3.16 FIP, and 22 strikeouts to 48 walks, finishing with a 9.56 strikeouts per nine and a 2.07 walks per nine.
The 33-year-old was named the winner ahead of Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins’ Sonny Gray. The latter is now a free agent and should command a significant multi-year deal.
Cole received all 30 first place votes as the unanimous winner. Sonny Gray finished in second with 20 second place votes while Gausman received seven second-place votes and 15 third-place votes.
Snell won the award for the second time in his career, winning his first Cy Young in the American League with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.
A one-time All-Star and two-time ERA title winner, Snell finished with the best ERA (2.25) and hits-per-nine (5.8) in MLB after hitters batted just .181/.293/.286 against him. He also finished with a 3.44 FIP, 11.70 K/9, 4.95 BB/9, and 4.1 WAR in 180 innings.
Snell was named the NL Pitcher of the Month in June and September, and his 12 scoreless starts were tied for the most by a qualified starting pitcher since 1969.
Although Snell led MLB with 99 walks, he also struck out 234, finishing behind only Spencer Strider’s 281 in the NL.
Snell is now considered one of the top free agents on the market and his flashes of brilliance will earn him a hefty contract, but he has also been inconsistent over his career, which may limit how much teams are comfortable paying him.
The NL West was well represented in voting as Snell won the award over the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen and the San Francisco Giants’ Logan Webb.
Snell finished with 28 of the 30 first-place votes and two second-place votes to run away with the award as the only pitcher listed on every ballot. Both Gallen and Webb received one first place vote as well.
Dodgers in 2023 Cy Young Award voting
No Dodgers pitcher finished with a vote for the Cy Young Award this season. Other votes went to Strider, Justin Steele, Zack Wheeler, Kodai Senga and Corbin Burnes.
Clayton Kershaw was pitching at a Cy Young level prior to his injury, but that caused him to miss too many innings and the Dodgers dealt with an inconsistent rotation throughout the season.
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