The New York Yankees had great ace pitchers in their lineup over the years. At present, they have Gerrit Cole. Last year, the NY side’s ace won the Cy Young Award. But Cole recently mentioned that winning the World Series means the whole world to him. He never really dreamt about winning the Cy Young award someday. However, to the utter dismay of the ace pitcher, the Bronx Bombers had a terrible season last year. They could not make the postseason for the first time since 2016. On top of that, the Yankees finished fourth in the American League East division.
They had their worst season in the last 30 years. The Yankees finished with a terrible 82-80 record. Clearly, nothing really went the way of the 27-time champions. But there were few accolades that came the NY side’s way. For instance, the rookie Anthony Volpe won the Gold Glove. And Cole won the Cy Young. Clearly, Cole is one of the best-starting pitchers in baseball. But he wants nothing more than winning the World Series with his Yankees teammates. However, the Yankees Nation can hope to see Gerrit Cole getting a Hall Of Fame induction someday.
How Gerrit Cole Defines The Perfect Career Graph As A Yankees Ace?
Last week, a couple of former Yankees ace pitchers donned the Pinstripes uniform as special spring coaches. They are CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. Both these legendary Yankees ace pitchers have pretty similar career graphs. After 531 games in the regular season, Andy Pettitte had 521 starts. As per Baseball reference, he had 60.2 Wins Above Replacement. On top of that, a record of 256-153, along with a 116 ERA+. Then, CC Sabathia had 560 starts in 561 games. His WAR was 61.8 and a record of 251-161, along with 117 ERA+. Like Sabathia and Pettitte, Cole has a trajectory that makes him a good candidate for future Hall of Famer.
Moreover, Gerrit Cole has a pretty good career fWAR with 40.7. He is way ahead of recently retired pitchers or most of the finished hurlers. Moreover, Cole has one of the best contracts for a starting pitcher in the major league. He signed a nine-year deal worth $324 million with the Yankees in 2019. Since then, he looked like a future Hall of Famer, and fans have regarded him as one of the best pitchers in the MLB. If Gerrit Cole can hit Sabathia’s 62 bWAR, he is well in the top candidates for Hall of Famers. He had his best bWAR season last year with 7.
Cole Can Be A Hall Of Famer If He Stays Productive In His Mid-30s
Gerrit Cole would like to help the Yankees win the World Series this year. That’s all he wished for throughout his time in the Bronx. This time, the team looks good on paper. Now, only time can tell how far they can go this year. Last year, they did not even make the postseason. But Cole impressed everybody to win the Cy Young. The Yankees Faithful would like to see Cole end up having a Hall of Fame career.
If Cole can have a career similar to David Cone’s, he can make it to the Hall. Cole can enter his age 33 season with 42 bWAR. Also, he has a Cy Young and lots of votes for the same award in the last few years. Nowadays, pitchers with 62 bWAR are pretty impressive. However, there is a doubt that Cole will remain productive throughout his contract with the Yankees.
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