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Astros: Gerrit Cole in the mix for the CY Young Award

By Brian Murray

CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 01: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning at Progressive Field on August 1, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 01: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning at Progressive Field on August 1, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /
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Astros Gerrit Cole has been at the top of his game, not only should he get AL Pitcher of the Month for July, he’s making a statement for the Cy Young Award.

When the topic of this year’s Cy Young Award comes up, Justin Verlander‘s name is usually one of the first that comes to most people’s mind. Well, you can now add Gerrit Cole into the mix. Cole had a fantastic month in July and it didn’t just start there. After what some might consider a mediocre first two months of the season, he’s been pitching lights out for the Astros ever since.

You can basically say that Cole has had two completely different seasons this year. In his first twelve games, Cole was sitting with a .500 winning percentage at 5-5 and an ERA of 4.02. The following twelve games he posted a 1.82 ERA while going 8-0. The end result is his current 13-5 record and his ERA dropping down to 2.87 for the season.

This second-half surge has put Cole right up there at the top of the list of names in contention for the 2019 Cy Young Award. Per ESPN’s Cy Young Award Predictor, Cole is now second behind teammate Justin Verlander and just above former Astro Charlie Morton. A little side note: Roberto Osuna is eighth in the rankings.

Let’s take a look at some of the American League pitching leaderboard. The first stat that stands out for Cole is strikeouts. He leads the league with 206 Ks, that’s 20 ahead of Verlander’s 196. He also comes in at second in SO/9IP with a 12.903 ratio, just behind Chris Sale‘s 13.186.

Cole is also second, behind none other than Verlander, in WHIP and H/9IP with a 0.996 and 6.631 respectively. He’s tied for second in wins with his 13 victories, one behind Verlander. Cole is in the top five in at least eleven other statistical categories in baseball-reference.com’s leaderboard for pitchers.

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He should be a shoo-in for his second straight Player of the Month Award for July, after taking it in June. The way he’s been pitching lately, he’s slowly catching up to his Teammate, Justin Verlander, and it may be a difficult decision come voting time at the end of the year. But one thing is for sure, it’s awfully nice having two pitchers on your team battling it out for top pitcher of the year.

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