Gerrit Cole is arguably the only top pitcher in MLB without a CY Young Award. Regardless, that narrative will most likely change on Wednesday when the CY Young Awards for the American League and National League get announced. The Yankees ace is a finalist and leading favourite to secure the career-first title.
This season has been one of the most successful ones in Gerrit Cole’s storied MLB career. He led the pitching rotation from the front to toss the opposition out in each of his 33 starts. Not only that, Cole finished the season while leading the AL in various pitching aspects despite missing the postseason. Meanwhile, his comrade and fellow bullpen colleague, Clarke Schmidt, recently revealed an unusual habit Cole follows during his starts.
Clarke Schmidt Reveals How Gerrit Cole Inhale Food During Starts To Maintain Concentration!
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is by far one of the most dedicated and passionate pitchers in MLB. He is exceptionally good at what he does and just raises the bar for himself with each start. Having said that, the 2023 season posed unusual challenges, but Cole defied all odds to stand tall. He finished the year with leading AL in ERA, games started, shutouts, innings pitched, WHIP and hits per nine innings pitched. During crunch and difficult situations, the pitcher kept his calm. However, Clarke Schmidt, his Yankees teammate, recently revealed one annoying habit of Cole that the latter uses to maintain his focus.
In an interview, Schmidt revealed that when Gerrit Cole is in his zone during starts, he does not care about anything else, and absolutely nothing can distract him. Even during the innings break, he inhales fruits in the dugout because he does not want to waste any time. Cole’s mind runs faster than the speed of light during pitching, and that reflects on his eating habits. “If you ever get a chance to catch him in the dugout somehow eating a banana, he always seems to scarf it down in 0.1 seconds,” said Schmidt. Regardless of how unusual that sounds, as long as it floats Gerrit’s boat, anything and everything is justified. The Yankees would pray that the ace continues to put his best self on display till the end of his term in pinstripes.
Yankees Ace Likely To Break CY Young Jinx This Week!
Gerrit Cole, the highly regarded starting pitcher of MLB, is ironically the one without a CY Young Award in his trophy cabinet. He came close in 2019 and 2021 but lost by the barest of margins to future Hall of Fame candidates. Nonetheless, the jinx is likely to break on Wednesday when MLB will officially announce the winners for this season.
Unsurprisingly, Gerrit Cole is a finalist from the American League and is currently leading the race. If and when he gets there, Cole will become the first Yankee pitcher to grab the award since 2001. The New York Yankees have relied heavily on him this year, and the situation is unlikely to remain any different in 2024. Thus, this honour here would boost and motivate the ace to come out stronger and better the next season.
