The Year's Best Pitchers

In this dumpster fire of a Yankees season, there was one bright spot.  Gerrit Cole.  On a team that finished 82-80, he was 15-4.  The Yankees went 23-10 in his starts...and 59-70 in games started by anyone else!  Without Cole, this season would've been even more of a mess.  This is the pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting when they made Cole their prize free agent signing in 2020.  He pitched every bit like the ace he is, and he was far and away the best pitcher in the American League this season.  Which is why Cole's a lock to win his first career Cy Young Award.  And, frankly, it won't be close.  It will almost certainly be unanimous.

Cole wasn't just the best pitcher in the American League.  He was the best pitcher in baseball.  I actually think he got some MVP votes, too.  To put his year in perspective, Cole led the Majors in WHIP, was one of only two pitchers (along with Framber Valdez) to throw two shutouts, finished second in the Majors in ERA, third in innings and third in batting average against (all of which led the AL), fifth in strikeouts and tied for sixth in wins.  And there were long stretches where he was dominant.  Which he had to be.  Because the team wasn't good on the four days he wasn't pitching.

Sonny Gray is a finalist despite going just 8-8.  You know my thoughts on pitchers who are .500 being in the Cy Young discussion, but I realize that ship sailed a long time ago.  Anyway, Gray was second in ERA behind Cole, and that's really all I've got.  Well, that and the fact that he only gave up eight home runs in 32 starts, so, basically, one every fourth game.

Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays is the third finalist.  He was incredibly consistent for Toronto and led the AL with 237 strikeouts.  Gausman was also fourth in ERA and finished with a 12-9 record in 31 starts.  His numbers during his two seasons in Toronto are remarkably similar, in fact, yet last year he was only ninth in Cy Young voting.  This year, he's top three after leading the Blue Jays to the playoffs.  Gausman and Chris Bassitt were one of the best 1-2's in baseball, and you could make the argument that Bassitt also deserves some Cy Young votes.  

Bassitt threw 200 innings and tied for the American League lead with 16 wins.  He was tied with Zach Eflin of the Rays, who emerged as Tampa Bay's ace after Shane McClanahan went down.  Luis Castillo of the Mariners, meanwhile, went 14-9 with a 3.34 ERA (fifth in the AL) and 219 strikeouts.  Framber Valdez went just 12-11, but had outstanding numbers otherwise, and he threw a no-hitter this season.  And Shohei Ohtani continued his two-way excellence, even if he only made 23 starts before having to shut it down as a pitcher.  Let's not forget Orioles closer Felix Bautista, either.  He was outstanding for the best team in the AL!  Bautista had 33 saves and eight wins, his WHIP was under 1.00, his ERA was 1.48, and he had a ridiculous 110 strikeouts in 61 innings!

I was so impressed with what Bautista did this season, in fact, that I've got him at No. 2 behind Cole on my "ballot."  I almost went completely off the board, but I do have Gausman just ahead of Castillo in third.  Gray wasn't even on my radar.  I had Pablo Lopez pegged as the Twin who'd get Cy Young support.  My fifth choice is actually Valdez, and I've got Ohtani ahead of Gray, too.

As for the actual voting results, there's absolutely no question Cole will be the winner.  You have to go all the way back to Roger Clemens in 2001 for the last time a Yankee won, and Cole will become just the second Yankee to win in the 45 years since Sparky Lyle and Ron Guidry went back-to-back.  I'd imagine Gausman was probably second and Gray third, but it was probably unanimous for third time in four years.

The National League also has a clear favorite in the Padres' Blake Snell, who won the AL award with the Rays in 2018.  Only six men have taken home the Cy Young in both leagues.  It seems likely that Snell will become the seventh.  It's also entirely possible that he'll be chosen unanimously, too, making it two years in a row that both Cy Young winners were unanimous after Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara last season.

Snell actually didn't get off to that great a start this season, either.  He didn't even make the NL All*Star team.  However, he more than made up for it in the second half.  Snell's last four months were outstanding!  He had an ERA of 2.25, which is incredible enough.  His ERA over his final 23 starts?  1.20!  He gave up just 45 earned runs in 32 starts.  That's what I call dominant!

Everything I said about Cole and the Yankees also applies to Snell and the Padres.  The team had high expectations that it didn't come anywhere close to meeting.  In San Diego, the pitching staff was NOT the problem.  Snell did his part.  He went 14-9 with 234 strikeouts and held opponents to a .181 batting average.  Snell did walk a lot of guys (99), but once they were on base, they stayed there.  Although, that did contribute to the fact he only threw 180 innings, by far the fewest among the finalists.

If not for Snell's dominance over the second half of the season, a strong case could be made for Zac Gallen.  The Diamondbacks' ace started the All*Star Game, and he didn't miss a start, taking the ball 34 times.  As we saw during the postseason, Arizona didn't have much behind him and Merrill Kelly, so they needed him to do exactly that.  Gallen tossed 210 innings, struck out 220 and went 17-9 for a Diamondbacks team that would not have ended up in the World Series without him.

San Francisco's Logan Webb is the third finalist and, frankly, I'm not entirely sure why.  I mean, it's because he finished third in the voting, obviously.  I just don't understand how.  He led the Majors in innings (216) and tossed two complete games, but he finished below .500 (11-13) for a Giants team that missed the playoffs.  That can partially be blamed on run support, and Webb did finish fourth in the NL in ERA (3.25), but batters hit .248 against him.

Personally, I think Spencer Strider should've been the third finalist.  He was the only 20-game winner in baseball, and that's not just because he had the Braves' offense behind him.  Strider led the Majors with 281 strikeouts and held opponents to a .210 average.  Justin Steele of the Cubs was probably one of the leading contenders at the All*Star break before cooling off in the second half.  He still finished 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA, though.  And 2021 winner Corbin Burnes put together another solid season in Milwaukee, notching 200 strikeouts.  Mets rookie Kodai Senga, meanwhile, had a sub-3.00 ERA and became the team's ace after Verlander and Scherzer were traded.

My top three in the National League are pretty clear.  Snell, Gallen, Strider in that order.  Steele gets a fourth-place vote from me, but, sorry, I can't overlook Webb's record.  Which is why my fifth-place vote goes to Burnes.