The American League Cy Young Award winners will be announced on November 15, and Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays is a finalist. Gausman is up against Gerrit Cole from the New York Yankees and Sonny Gray from the Minnesota Twins. Cole has been in the top three finalists for Cy Young for the last three seasons. While he is favored to win, it can go in any direction. Gausman reached a milestone in his career when he reached 200 strikeouts this season. Although he did not get good run support from his team, Gausman still had a solid 2023 season. He finished off the regular season with a W-L record of 12-9, a 3.16 ERA, 237 strikeouts, and a 1.180 WHIP.
Your 2023 @officialBBWAA AL Cy Young Award finalists:
Gerrit Cole
Kevin Gausman
Sonny Gray pic.twitter.com/VAvWcJKU8L— MLB (@MLB) November 6, 2023
Gausman Is a Finalist for AL Cy Young Award
Looking Back at Gausman’s Season in 2023
Let’s Geauxxxx!! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 https://t.co/UYIMxuWZee
— Kevin Gausman (@KevinGausman) November 7, 2023
Gausman has been a favorite and a strong contender for the AL Cy Young Award all season long. In July of this season, Gausman faced 184 more hitters against the elite teams. In comparison to Framber Valdez (129) from the Houston Astros, and Shane McClanahan (129) from the Tampa Bay Rays. He even had more than Shohei Ohtani. Gausman also had several games where he only gave up one run or less and several starts recording ten strikeouts or more. The fact that he has also reached these milestones and success with poor run support makes his case for Cy Young stronger as he had his work cut out for him in 2023.
Improvements From 2022
In 2022, Gausman had a .363 opponent BAPIP (batting average on balls in play), the second-worst for a pitcher in the Live Ball Era. Yet, his improvements in 2023 came naturally from correcting itself. Gausman is the definition of an ace in every way. On another note, his 5.3 fWAR is tied with Gray for the best in the AL. It is above Cole’s 5.2 Gausman even holds the strikeout advantage over both, but trails in ERA to Gray’s 2.79 and Cole’s 2.63.
Kevin Gausman, the Blue Jays Ace
“It’s pretty cool… my career had its ups and downs. As a starting pitcher, this is an award you want.”@BlueJays ace Kevin Gausman was just named a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award! @officialBBWAA pic.twitter.com/VDy0ReCPP1
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 6, 2023
It is the first time in Gausman’s career that he has been named a finalist for the Cy Young Award. He best finish was sixth for the 2021 National League version of the award when he played for the San Francisco Giants. The 32-year-old should be proud of his accomplishments and all the milestones he reached in 2023. When the Blue Jays signed him two years ago, he has not disappointed. He has three years remaining on his five-year, $110 million deal as he continues to be a top-five pitcher. His contract has been a great one for Toronto. However, Gausman knows he has tough competition with Gray and Cole. Hopefully, Gausman can join his teammates who were already recognized with Gold Glove Awards. Pitcher Jose Berrios, centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier and third baseman Matt Chapman were recipients.
Photo Credit: © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
