This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
If you ask Gerrit Cole how he took his game to another level in 2023, becoming the first Yankee to win the American League Cy Young Award since Roger Clemens in '01, the right-hander points to a relentless pursuit of perfection.
Cole said his mindset all season was to attack hitters and force contact from the game's first pitch, but he didn’t do it alone. Cole had some help in pinstripes, including from a couple of Yankees legends in Ron Guidry and Andy Pettitte.
“I think it started in Spring Training, being curious as to how to improve off of last year,” Cole said on Wednesday. “It started with talking with Ron in Spring Training about using the whole strike zone and with Andy, even dating a little bit back to the previous season, just hounding me about changing speeds with the curveball [to] slow guys down.
“But then on the daily grind, [pitching coach] Matt [Blake] was there every day. Trevi [catcher Jose Trevino] was there every day, whether he’s playing or not. Benny [Rortvedt] is there every day. We’re in the flow of the game, in the flow of the series. I think everybody contributed in some kind of unique way.”
Cole unanimously claimed his first Cy Young Award, beating out fellow AL finalists Sonny Gray (Twins) and Kevin Gausman (Blue Jays).
He’s the sixth Yankee to win a Cy Young Award, joining Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford ('61), Sparky Lyle ('77), Guidry ('78) and Clemens (2001). Of that group, only Cole and Guidry won unanimously.
Cole and Guidry struck up a friendship upon the former’s arrival in the Bronx in 2020. This spring, Guidry encouraged Cole to prioritize contact over strikeouts -- an essential ingredient in the hurler’s success. Cole said he treasures his connection with “Louisiana Lightning.”
“I think it’s fitting,” Cole said. “Ron has helped me out a lot, getting me acclimated to the pressures and the role and the organization. He was a great Yankee, a captain, accolades up and down. He continues to represent the organization in that first-class way whenever he comes around, and he’s a great example for all of us. It’s very special; it’s a tremendous honor, and I’ve tried to make him proud.”
The 33-year-old Cole went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 33 starts in 2023. His ERA was the lowest in the AL and the second lowest in the Majors, trailing only the Padres’ Blake Snell (2.25), who took home the NL Cy Young Award.
Hardly satisfied, Cole is already thinking about ways to improve his performance in 2024.
“I want to refine a little bit of the command with some of the offspeed [pitches],” Cole said. “I think that’s really evident when the curveball is working well on the edge of the plate, that it adds another element of timing to the approach. The cutter being something that was a regular presence for two-thirds of the year, that’s just in the infant stages of being developed, to a certain extent.
“We used it this year, and it was unpredictable and surprising; the break is obviously a different break from the slider and the fastball. I think the next step there is going to be the command. We want to use it, ultimately, to both sides of the plate just like we use all the other pitches up and down as well.”