MLB Prediction: The 2023 Cy Young Awards Should Go to Gerrit Cole (Yankees) and Blake Snell (Padres)

The evolution of the pitcher will also be on full display with this year’s Cy Young balloting. Only one pitcher in either league accumulated 20 wins — Spencer Strider of the Braves — and he wasn’t named a finalist for the award. Instead, the candidates that made the cut followed the Wins Above Replacement rankings very closely, a sign of just how much the thought process around the Cy Youngs has changed in a short time.

Based on both WAR and the betting odds, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees is a strong favorite in the American League. Cole went 15-4 and easily led all qualified AL pitchers in ERA with a 2.63 mark; he also paced the league in innings, WHIP and quality starts (24); only Chicago’s Lance Lynn threw more pitches per start. New York may have missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, but you can't blame Cole — he did everything he could to try and drag the Yankees to greater things.

In the National League, there’s a good case for each of the finalists: Arizona’s Zac Gallen had the most wins (17) of the group, while San Francisco’s Logan Webb had the most innings and quality starts (24), and San Diego’s Blake Snellled in ERA and average Game Score. Snell is the front-runner by virtue of more WAR, though his candidacy is also deeply strange — he would be the first Cy Young winner to lead his league in walks since Early Wynn in 1959. Judging starters in 2023 means throwing out a lot of the game’s time-worn lessons, though, and it seems like Snell is poised to add to that.