Who doesn’t like making a little history? Certainly, Gerrit Cole wouldn’t mind being part of one. The lovable New York Yankees ace had his career-best season in 2023. In what was a perfect storm, Cole managed to deliver everything the Pinstripes had hoped for. While the season turned out disappointing for the Yankees, Cole’s Cy Young win came in as a nice consolation for the fanbase. But now things are back to zero, and Cole has to climb again.

Winning multiple Cy Young awards puts you in an elite category. In over 100 years, merely 22 pitchers have achieved that feat. While doing that in itself would be a massive achievement for Cole, imagine the atmosphere if he does this back-to-back. That would put him in an even more elite list of just 11 pitchers! But can he do it? 

While Cole has competition from the likes of Corbin Burnes, Cole’s domination last season makes a Cy Young win quite feasible. That’s what top analyst Jim Bowden recently wrote in his piece in The Athletic. While predicting which player will win the individual awards, he quickly pointed out how Cole is a bit too far ahead of the competition as of now.

“He’s the best pitcher in the American League. I considered Corbin Burnes and Kevin Gausman, but I’m predicting Cole wins it in back-to-back years,” Bowden wrote. According to most sites, Cole’s odds for a Cy Young win are hovering around +500 to +600. His closest competition remains Gausman, who stands at over +700 odds. 

The last time something like this happened was in 2019 when Jacob deGrom won the award consecutively. The best part? Cole might have adequate support from the hitting staff this time around.

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Gerrit Cole and fellow Yankee emerge as favorites for 2024 

While Bowden called Cole the favorite for Cy Young, there was an unexpected prediction from the analyst. According to him – Juan Soto could be the AL MVP next season. “He’ll benefit from hitting in the confines of Yankee Stadium, and he’ll be playing for a free-agent contract at the breakout age of 25,” Bowden wrote. 

So, in an exciting development, Cole and Soto are predicted to have a monumental season. On top of that, the baseball fraternity has called Aaron Judge a favorite for being the Home-run leader. All in all, the Yankees are currently looking like a team in the ascendency, but will they continue this form during the regular season? That’s a question that will get answered, eventually.

Until then, it’ll be fun to see the ultimate try by Cole to etch his name forever in baseball history. 

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