(New York) New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole unanimously won his first American League Cy Young on Wednesday.
Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres earned the National League honor, becoming the seventh to receive the trophy in both leagues.
After often coming close, Cole finally finished at the top of the voting after an exceptional season with the Bronx Bombers.
The right-hander received 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
He was ahead of Minnesota Twins right-hander Sonny Gray and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman in the order.
Cole had a 15-4 record and a 2.63 ERA with 222 strikeouts in 209 innings – an American League innings record.
He became the sixth Yankees pitcher so honored at the end of the season, the first since Roger Clemens in 2001.
Cole finished second in the voting on two occasions (and three other times in the top 5).
Snell led the major leagues with a 2.25 ERA.
Now a free agent, the left-hander received 28 of 30 first-place votes.
San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb placed second and Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen placed third.
Snell, the 2018 American Cy Young winner with the Tampa Bay Rays, joined Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer among those who have won the honor in both leagues.
PHOTO GREGORY BULL, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Blake Snell
Despite a poor start to the season, Snell had a 14–9 record with 234 strikeouts.
He worked 180 innings in 32 games for the Padres. The latter had a performance of 82-80, despite the third highest salary bill on the circuit.
His record was 1–6 and his ERA was 5.40 on May 19 after a loss to the Boston Red Sox.
He then rebounded brilliantly despite 99 walks, a major league record.
Snell became a free agent after turning down a one-season, $20.325 million qualifying offer from the Padres.
The other four Padres pitchers to win the Cy Young are Randy Jones (1976), Perry (1978), Mark Davis (1989) and Jake Peavy (2007).
