The winner of last year’s American League Cy Young Award was Gerrit Cole (32) of the New York Yankees. Cole had 15 wins and four losses, 2.63 ERA, and 222 strikeouts while pitching 209 innings in 33 games. Cole was honored for the first time in his career as he topped the American League in ERA, innings and WHIP.
Cole broke a record-high three-year, $324 million (W444.2 billion) FA contract with the Yankees ahead of the 2021 season. The record was broken by Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million (W445.6 billion) contract with the Dodgers ahead of this season.
Cole’s annual salary was 36 million U.S. dollars last year and he will be paid 36 million dollars this year as well. The title of the Cy Young Award is a ransom that suits him well. This year, however, a player who earns only 2.65 million dollars a year is emerging as the top candidate for the Cy Young Award in the American League. The star is Detroit Tigers left-handed fastball pitcher Tarik Skubal (28).
In the first game of the 2024 Major League Baseball doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on the 30th (Korea time), Scubal started the game as a starter, allowing three hits, walking one and striking out eight in seven innings. Detroit won the game 8-0 completely, and Scubal won his seventh win (one loss) of the season. In addition, he succeeded in lowering his ERA to 2.01 and was close to entering the one-point range.
On the day, Skubal recorded 93 pitches and four-seam fastballs accounted for the highest portion with 47. Following this, he displayed 22 changeups, 11 sliders, eight sinkers, and five knuckle curves. He displayed robust physical condition, as he was able to speed up to 99.1 miles (159 kilometers) in maximum speed.
Scubal, who got off to a good start by striking out all three out counts from the top of the first inning, was able to gain momentum in his good pitching as his teammates gave him a 3-0 lead in attack in the bottom of the first inning. Although there was a crisis with one out and runners on first and second base in the top of the second inning, Scubal, who finished the inning by striking out Michael A. Taylor and catching Alika Williams with a flyout to left field, got a hit to right by Nick Gonzalez after two outs in the top of the fourth inning, but succeeded in continuing the scoreless streak by striking out Yasmani Grandal with a swing and miss.
Starting with Scubal striking out Grandal, Scubal continued his batting streak of 10 consecutive batters through the seventh inning, and of course, the winning pitcher went to Scubal. In 11 games this season, Scubal pitched 67 innings, winning 7-1 with a 2.01 ERA.
The Major League’s official website (MLB.com ) recently held a virtual voting for the American League Cy Young Award and 41 experts participated in the voting. Among them, 32 voted for Scubal, who proudly took the top spot. “MLB.com ” emphasized that Scubal’s winning the top spot was an extraordinary event, as he said, “The speed of his ball hit 100 miles (161 kilometers) for the first time recently. It is not surprising that he got 32 first place votes.” 유흥알바
Scubal made his major league debut with Detroit in 2020, going 1-4 with a 5.63 ERA in eight innings that year. Reborn as a full-time starter in 2021, he pitched 149 ⅓ in 31 games, leaving him 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA, pitched 117 ⅔ in 21 games in 2022 and had to go 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA and take a hiatus from undergoing surgery on his left elbow flexor muscles.
Back on the mound in July last year, Scubal pitched 80 ⅓ in 15 games and produced an excellent 7-3 record with a 2.80 ERA. Scubal had a four-seam fastball average speed of 94.1 miles in 2022, but jumped to 95.8 miles last year and 96.6 miles this year, showing a better performance. He is also using the changeup as his main weapon as his changeup has developed remarkably. While the share of changeups was 14.9% in 2022, it rose sharply to 24.4% last year, and this year it is 27.3%, similar to the share of four-seam fastballs (29.4%).
Will Skubal achieve the “great feat” of winning the Cy Young Award for the first time in his life this year? It remains to be seen whether a pitcher who has never completed the required innings will be the hero of the “great upset” as well as a double-digit victory.