Yankees’ Gerrit Cole doesn’t want to be ‘distracted’ by chasing 1st career Cy Young – The Denver Post

TAMPA — Shortly after Gerrit Cole exited his Friday start against the Rays, Aaron Boone showered him with praise.

“I said to him afterwards, ‘That’s about as good as I’ve seen you right there,’” Boone said after Cole struck out 11 and walked none while holding Tampa Bay to two earned runs in a 6-2 win. “That’s what it looked like to me against, obviously, a really good offense that’s familiar with him.”

The performance — a bounce-back after a clunker against Boston on Aug. 19 — saw Cole lower his ERA to 2.95. He is also 11-4 with 181 strikeouts over 168 innings this season.

“He’s doing something special out there this year,” DJ LeMahieu said.

While the last-place Yankees are all but officially out of the playoff race, their ace’s Cy Young candidacy has given fans a reason to pay attention over the last month or so of the season. Cole, however, doesn’t want to look too far ahead.

“Not much,” he said when asked how focused he is on winning what would be his first Cy Young award. “I don’t want to get distracted. It’s not something that I’ve ever thought about through my whole career, so I’m just sticking with what I’ve done in the past.”

Cole has been a top-five finisher for the Cy Young five times in his career. He placed second in 2019 and 2021. In 2019, he lost to then-Astros teammate Justin Verlander. Robbie Ray won the award with Toronto in 2021.

Cole’s 2019 season was his best in terms of wins (20), ERA (2.50), innings pitched (212.1), strikeouts (326), WHIP (0.895), ERA+ (185), FIP (2.64) and fWAR (7.5). Those stats helped him secure a nine-year, $324 million contract from the Yankees.

Most of Cole’s final 2023 numbers probably won’t top what he did four years ago, but that doesn’t mean the 32-year-old hasn’t pitched just as well, or at least close enough.

“I definitely think I’m constantly adjusting and constantly evolving,” Cole said when asked if he feels he’s on-par with his last year in Houston. “I like to think you’re always trying to get better. Father Time catches up to us somehow, but we can always adjust and figure out what we need to do to stay at that top level. It’s hard for me to say right now without diving into it comparatively. I would just say we’ve done a good job of preventing runs, for the most part, this year. We’ve taken the ball every time and gone deep. I’m just trying to do my best.”

While Cole said that he doesn’t want to fixate on the hardware, he did admit that winning his first Cy Young would be “unbelievable.”

Not only for himself, but for those who have helped him along the way.

“So many people put hard work into it,” said Cole, who added that Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake, director of pitching Sam Briend, and an unnamed, Hall of Fame-bound friend helped him make mechanical adjustments before Friday’s start. “It’s a blessing to represent the organization with that award and represent the hard work that’s going on behind the scenes, from the catchers to the pitching staff to the coaching staff and everyone who has been an advocate for me and pours into me.

“It would mean a lot, but I got to shower this off and get ready for Detroit next week. It’s kind of the most important thing and all I’ve known to do.”

With only a handful of starts left in Cole’s campaign, his competition includes, but is not limited to, Seattle’s George Kirby and Luis Castillo, Toronto’s Kevin Gausman, Minnesota’s Sonny Gray and even Baltimore closer Félix Bautista.

That’s not to say that any of those pitchers are necessarily favored over Cole at this point, but the season isn’t over yet. There’s still time for others to make their case — or for Cole to run away with the race.

“He’s having that kind of season,” Boone said. “Still a ways to go, but he’s in the middle of a really special season.”

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