3 Yankees players who’ll be better in 2023, and 2 who won’t
By Tim Boyle
Why Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole will be better in 2023
No team likes facing Gerrit Cole. At least in 2022, he was far less invincible.
Cole finished ninth in the Cy Young race while leading the league with 33 starts and 257 strikeouts. How could he possibly be much better? A couple of numbers point toward a weakness of his last season.
At 13-8 with a 3.50 ERA, Cole missed on the first two elements anyone notices about a pitcher. Is he winning games for his team and how often is he allowing runs? The ERA was his highest since 2016, the lone season of his career when he had a losing record. Cole has developed into a much better pitcher since those days with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Last season felt a little bit closer to those days because of all the meatballs he served.
Cole led the league with 33 home runs allowed. The rate came out to 1.5 per 9. It wasn’t horrific yet it’s the second-highest of his career. Only in the shortened 2020 campaign has he allowed home runs at a greater rate.
His strikeouts were down, too, at least when looking at frequency. At 11.5 per 9, it’s still ridiculously high. The number is his lowest since leaving Pittsburgh after the 2017 season.
Cole has all of the tools needed to win a Cy Young. It’s something that has eluded him thus far. He’ll be better in 2023 and back as a top-five Cy Young candidate. That’s a place he has been every season from 2018-2021.