MLB Cy Young Power Rankings: We’re all living in Justin Verlander’s world

HOUSTON, TX – APRIL 13: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros walks off the mound after striking out Shin-Soo Choo #17 of the Texas Rangers in the third inning at Minute Maid Park on April 13, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

3. Gerrit Cole, RHP for the Houston Astros

5-1, 2.05 ERA, .083 WHIP, 39.4 strikeout rate, 2.8 WAR

It’s quite a feat for Gerrit Cole to currently being the second best pitcher in his own rotation, but here we are. He’s been utterly dominant so far and his last three starts have actually represented the “worst” stretch of his season so far. During those three starts, he’s pitched 18 innings, given up eight runs and struck out 23 batters. There’s plenty of pitchers that would sign up for that type of season in a hurry. It’s easy to see why Cole has seen such a jump in his strikeouts when you see two pitches overplayed like this –

Cole has been insanely durable this year, meaning he’s almost always going deep into games. He’s only seven innings behind the league leader but he’s also had one fewer start. There’s been one instance out of his 11 starts when Cole hasn’t made it at least six innings. As the strikeout rate would suggest, there’s been one game when he hasn’t logged at least seven. This style of dominance is unprecedented for Cole at any other point in his career. If you measure strikeouts on the K/9 metric, the only pitcher better than Cole this year is Max Scherzer. Those two are also far and away the only two starting pitchers with a K/9 over 13.

All it’s going to take for Cole to get back into the driver’s seat for the A.L. Cy Young is a little slip up from his teammate. In any other season, Cole would be the frontrunner right now. There is virtually nothing to pick at in any metric or stat that would sway you away from Cole. It’s simply a matter of not being the best statistical pitcher on his team at the moment.