Gerrit Cole is underrated and underappreciated, as the MLB list makes ignored him for a top-10 slot most of the time before Opening Day. But they won’t ignore him anymore after his latest masterpiece, a 2-0 shutout of the Twins that brought his ERA down to 0.95.
Obviously, this made him one of the best-starting pitchers in the game. For those who didn’t quite understand how great it was, they must listen to the voice emanating from the Yankees’ clubhouse.
“He’s No. 1 without a doubt,” said teammate Nestor Cortes, highlighting how Gerrit Cole makes a plan with minute details and then follows it to every word.
Cortes said, “I see it firsthand.” And this puts the Yankees starter in the best position to speak about how valued is his teammate as a true ace.
Gerrit Cole is really doing well in his career, which has created a buzz about he is becoming a strong contender for CY Young Award this year.
Gerrit Cole is special
In 2023, the Yankees have won all three of Gerrit Cole’s starts. He is the first Yankees pitcher to ever have an ERA of less than 1.00 and 30 strikeouts in his first four starts. He is also the early leader for the Cy Young Award. He has never been able to win. Gerrit Cole should have won in 2019, but his teammate Justin Verlander beat him out for the award. This seemed like a way for the writers to make up for mistakes they had made in the past.
Today, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Clayton Kershaw are three of the best pitchers of all time, but they are nearing the end of their careers. Sandy Alcantara, Dylan Cease, Max Fried, and Julio Urias are set to follow them soon. When Jacob deGrom is at his best, no one can beat him. However, in the last couple of years, he’s only been the league leader in injuries.
But Gerrit Cole is the one who remains good, reliable, and in “the middle of his best years.” When he signed with the Yankees in December 2019 instead of his hometown Dodgers or Angels, he got a $324 million, nine-year contract, which is a record for a pitcher. Stephen Strasburg was the other big starter who signed at those winter meetings. Since he re-signed with the Nationals for $245 million over seven years, he hasn’t pitched much.
Gerrit Cole, on the other hand, just keeps going. He never stops, and he hasn’t been missing his spot much lately. He’s right at the top if you’re paying attention.
“I think it’s fair to throw him in that conversation, absolutely,” Aaron Boone said. “I do think going into this year I think he’s probably been on some level underrated, underappreciated. He’s great. He’s a great pitcher I believe will end up in Cooperstown one day.”
Since 2020, when Gerrit Cole started wearing pinstripes, the Yankees‘ game notes say that he is first in strikeouts with 626, first in strikeouts per nine innings with 11.69, and second in wins with 40, behind the Dodgers’ Urias.
“I’m blessed, and I work hard at it,” Gerrit Cole told in response to such figures brought before him..
He’s at his best right now, and the Twins have first-hand experience with it. His fastball sat at 96 or 97 mph, just a few ticks off his high figures, but his command was so excellent that the Twins had no chance. Gerrit Cole only walked one batter and struck out everyone in the Twins lineup except Jose Miranda and Michael A. Taylor.
Twins are in awe of him
“He’s definitely one of the best pitchers in the league,” said Twins star Carlos Correa, a former teammate with the Astros who was not officially in this very unofficial poll. “He does his homework. He knows where to attack. He executes. He obviously has his stuff.”
Gerrit Cole does well in all of those areas, but availability is the deciding factor. He never gets off to a bad start, and there’s never even a hint that something might be wrong. His availability is one of the reasons why he is at the top of all the statistical lists.
“We can always talk about who has better stuff, who’s got the biggest strikeout ratio and all that,” Correa said. “But at the end of the day, being available is the most important thing. He always shows up every fifth day.”
Gerrit Cole has huge changes this year — a pitch timer, more offense, and more base-stealing — he’s made quick work of the opposition.
The Twins’ Carlos Correa commended this saying that Gerrit Cole is “definitely one of the best pitchers in the league.”
“I’ve never seen him take the mound and not have dominant-type stuff,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That doesn’t mean you’re going to be dominant, but he always looks good. First pitch of the game is always crisp; last pitch of his outing is always crisp. Everything in-between, it’s good.
A sign that can’t be missed
In the ninth inning on Sunday, the Yankees’ best pitcher, Gerrit Cole got rid of Carlos Correa after the ball landed harmlessly in Oswaldo Cabrera‘s hands. This made his steely, intense stare disappear.
Gerrit Cole then put both hands up in the air and slammed his right palm into the pocket of his glove. He later called it an “old school” performance. It was a 10-strikeout complete game that helped the Yankees beat the Twins 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. The right-hander has had a great start to the season so far.
“We had a good approach, good command,” Gerrit Cole told. “You’re giving yourself a chance to have success when you’re executing so many pitches.”
As catcher Jose Trevino and the rest of the Yankees team congratulated him, Gerrit Cole looked toward the field-level seats and waved with his right hand. His wife, Amy, and their 3-year-old son, Caden, were walking toward the first-base dugout. Cole smiled happily as he gave the game ball to his 3-year-old son.
“That was cool. He woke me up at 5:15 this morning, came in, and poked me, and I was like, ‘Dude, what are you doing? We’ve got to get back to sleep,’” Cole said. “He slept, but not quite as long as I did. But he was excited about the game when I left and told me he would see me at the park.”
In fact, it would be a great time for the whole family to go to the ballpark. Gerrit Cole’s strikeout of Correa in the fourth inning moved him past Hall of Famer Whitey Ford (1,956) and into 97th place on the list of all-time strikeouts. This was Cole’s fourth career shutout.
Manager Aaron Boone articulated that Gerrit Cole has been “really locked in and focused” and that’s why he can throw his fastball to all corners of the plate.
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