A day after Aaron Boone said Gerrit Cole is bound for a Cy Young Award and the Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball handed the pitcher a timelier honor.
Cole and Diamondbacks’ ace Zac Gallen won the American and National League Player of the Week Awards on Monday, the league announced. Cole earned the award for the second time in his career, the other coming while he played for the Astros in 2019.
The last Yankees pitcher to win the award was Corey Kluber in May 2021. He did so after throwing a no-hitter.
Cole didn’t do that this past week, but the righty did go 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA, seven hits, three walks and 13 strikeouts over two starts and 16 innings against the Guardians and Twins.
On Tuesday, Cole rebounded from a bumpy first inning and held Cleveland to two runs and five hits during a blowout Yankees win at Progressive Field. He walked two and struck out three.
The Twins, meanwhile, couldn’t touch Cole on Sunday, when he limited Minnesota to two hits during a complete game shutout. The gem also included 10 strikeouts and just one walk as Cole improved to 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA.
Afterward, the five-time All-Star’s manager predicted hardware and Cooperstown are in Cole’s future.
“He’s gonna get one, maybe more,” Boone said Sunday of the Cy Young Award. “He’s gonna be in that conversation every year and has been now for a number of years. So he’s in a great place right now and [I] look forward to seeing him going back out there in a few days.”
Sunday marked Cole’s 23rd game with double-digit strikeouts as a Yankee, tying Ron Guidry for the franchise record. Cole also became the first Yankees pitcher in history to record a sub-1.00 ERA and at least 30 strikeouts through his first four appearances of a season since earned runs became an official stat in 1913.
Gallen, meanwhile, is coming off two stellar starts of his own. He totaled 13.2 innings against the Brewers and Marlins without allowing a run. The righty also kept his opponents to five hits and one walk while striking out 18.
()