Yankees’ Gerrit Cole reflects on Cy Young Award ... then reveals what he’s refining for next season

Everybody in the baseball world expected Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to win the first Cy Young Award of his career on Wednesday night.

Cole was the best starter in the American League by a wide margin this season, leading all pitchers in countless statistical categories, from ERA (2.63) to innings pitched (209), WHIP (0.98) and WAR (7.4)

He ended up winning the award unanimously! This was a guarantee, not a surprise.

Still, Cole’s genuine and audible reaction to hearing Hall of Famer Greg Maddux say his name on MLB Network’s live awards show on Wednesday night showed just how much this official announcement meant to him.

Cole, a lifelong Yankees fan that grew up dreaming of an opportunity to don pinstripes, has once again pitched his way into the history books, etching his name alongside some of the best to ever wear the uniform.

“It’s just a bit surreal to be regarded with the other five Cy Young Award winners that we’ve had,” Cole said on a conference call after his unanimous victory. “We’ve had great pitchers in and out of this place, great players in and out of this place, leaders on and off the field and people that have set a really high example, a really high bar of what it means to be a great Yankee. That was an inspiration to me as a kid and obviously getting to live out my dream is certainly an inspiration, a standard to shoot for. It makes me tremendously proud that I feel like I’m holding up my end of the bargain to those great players and those great legacies. I’m contributing to the overall brand of what we do in New York.”

FIXING THE YANKEES:

While this type of personal accolade is special — Cole called it validation for all the hard work that he and his teammates put in each year — there are bigger goals and loftier expectations when you play for the Yankees. In that sense, Cole’s Cy Young season will always be tied to the Yankees missing the playoffs in 2023, doomed to fail by flawed roster construction, underperforming pieces and another wave of injuries.

It wasn’t Cole’s fault by any means — he was their most consistent player all year long, giving them a chance to win every five days — but he knows a season in the Bronx won’t truly be a success until the Yankees are the last team standing.

“It’s a team effort and a lot of stuff has been reflected in this award, it’s one of the things that I wanted to do when I came to New York,” Cole said on MLB Network. “The other thing, winning the World Series, we’re still working towards that and we’ll take another step forward towards that next year.”

The Yankees contending for a championship next year depends on quite a few factors. The organization needs to have an A+ offseason, making the right trades and signing the right players to bolster a roster that won just 82 games this year. They’re banking on aging stars to recapture their old form and counting on highly-touted prospects to develop on the biggest stage.

Much of that is out of Cole’s control, but the ace isn’t complacent, sitting back and waiting for Opening Day. Cole is already starting to look ahead at what he can do to improve for next season, an unwavering hunger to learn and evolve, setting an example for his teammates.

“I want to refine a little bit of the command with some of the off-speed,” Cole said. “I think that it’s really evident when the curveball is working well on the edge of the plate that it adds another element of timing to the approach. And the cutter being really something that was a regular presence. Two-thirds of the year, that’s just in the infant stages of being developed to a certain extent. It was unpredictable and surprising, the break is obviously a different break from the slider and the fastball, and I think the next element, the next step there, is going to be the command. We want to use it ultimately to both sides of the plate, just like we use all the other pitches. Up and down as well.”

That’s just the first half of his answer to a question of what he’s planning to focus on heading into next spring. He went on to explain the intricacies of his approach on the mound, the understanding of the analytics attached to his production and his pursuit of more results, limiting slug and hard contact.

“Those are some of the things we’re chewing on right away,” Cole said.

If Cole can take his supplementary pitches to the next level on a more consistent basis, it’ll make his elite four-seam fastball even better. Cole’s heater was the best single pitch in baseball this year, per Statcast’s run value metric. Can you imagine how much tougher it’ll be to face the right-hander when his curveball and cutter become as effective as his slider and changeup? It’s hard to bet against someone that’s this dedicated and addicted to their craft, a talented individual that has a track record of improving and adapting over an already illustrious career.

On Wednesday night, after speaking with reporters at least, Cole had to push those thoughts aside. His eldest son, Caden, was getting hungry after waiting around for the Cy Young announcement all evening.

So, before getting back to the grind, the Cy Young Award winner had to play dad.

“Caden has been ecstatic all day,” Cole said. “He’s been playing with his brother [Everett] really well today too, they’re not fighting. It’s been a great day so far. We’ll get some food in him and hopefully keep him on the right track. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to celebrate things like this with your kids. Family moments and the love that we have for one another, it’s unlike anything else and it just elevates it for sure and makes it that much more worthwhile.”