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New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole spoke to the media and expressed his joy after winning the first Cy Young Award of his MLB career on Wednesday. After coming painfully close several times in his career, the 33-year-old hurler finally won the coveted award after receiving all 30 first-place votes in the ballot.
Cole was elated after winning the award and expressed his pride in being able to win it while playing for Yankees.
Gerrit Cole was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2011 MLB Draft and went on to make his major league debut for them in 2013. After establishing himself as one of the top pitchers in the country over the next five years, he was traded to the Houston Astros ahead of the 2018 season and then went on to sign a huge contract with the Yankees in 2019.
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Over the course of his career, Gerrit Cole has achieved several individual highlights, including six All-Star appearances, MLB strikeout leader, AL ERA leader and AL wins leader.
However, the top prize for any pitcher had eluded him thus far: the Cy Young Award. Having finished second in the votes in 2019 and 2021, it is no surprise to see the ace brimming with pride after finally winning the award. When asked about his thoughts on the win, Cole said:
"It is part of a greater dream that I had as a kid."
Gerrit Cole becomes sixth Yankee to win the Cy Young award
While the New York Yankees are a team with one of the richest histories in the MLB, they had only five Cy Young Award winners until now. Gerrit Cole has now taken his place in history after winning the award for the first time in his career and becoming the sixth Yankee to do so.
It came as no surprise to many after Cole finished the season with an AL-best 2.63 ERA with 222 strikeouts in 209 innings over the year. While many in the baseball world doubted his big money move to New York, he has proved them all wrong with one of the best seasons of his career in the MLB.
