Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees has won the AL Cy Young Award for the first time in his career. He beat out Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays and Sonny Gray of the Minnesota Twins, who were the other finalists for the award.Cole had a dominant season on the mound, leading the AL in ERA (2.63), WHIP (0.98), strikeouts (281), and innings pitched (209). He also posted a 19-6 record and helped the Yankees win the AL East division title.
Cole is the fifth Yankees pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award, joining Whitey Ford, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry, and Roger Clemens. He is also the first Yankees pitcher to win the award since Clemens in 2001.
Blake Snell wins NL Cy Young Award
Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres has won the NL Cy Young Award for the second time in his career. He edged out Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants, who were the other finalists for the award.
Snell had a stellar season on the hill, leading the NL in ERA (2.25), WHIP (1.19), and strikeouts per nine innings (11.3). He also posted a 16-5 record and helped the Padres reach the NL Wild Card game.
Snell is the fourth Padres pitcher to win the NL Cy Young Award, joining Randy Jones, Gaylord Perry, and Jake Peavy. He is also the first Padres pitcher to win the award since Peavy in 2007.
Snell previously won the AL Cy Young Award in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays, making him the ninth pitcher in MLB history to win the award in both leagues. He joins Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Jacob deGrom in this exclusive club.
Cy Young Award history and voting
The Cy Young Award was first given in 1956 to honor the best pitcher in MLB. It was named after Cy Young, who holds the MLB record for most career wins (511). From 1956 to 1966, only one award was given for both leagues. Since 1967, separate awards have been given for the AL and the NL.
The award is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), who select five pitchers for each league and rank them from first to fifth. The voting system is based on a weighted point system, with seven points for first place, four points for second place, three points for third place, two points for fourth place, and one point for fifth place.
The pitcher with the most points in each league wins the award. In case of a tie, the award is shared by the tied pitchers.