SD’s Snell wins 2nd Cy Young; Yanks’ Cole his 1st

San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell won his second Cy Young Award on Wednesday, this time in the National League, while New York Yankees hurler Gerrit Cole took home his first award unanimously after twice coming in second and finishing in the top five three other times.

Snell became the seventh player — and second left-hander — to win the award in each league, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. He previously won the AL Cy Young while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.

Snell was 14-9 with an MLB-leading 2.25 ERA and 180 innings pitched in 2023. He also gave up the fewest hits (5.8) per nine innings while leading the majors in walks (99).

He’s the third pitcher to win the award while leading his league in free passes. Bob Turley and Early Wynn did it in 1958 and 1959, respectively.

Snell also ranked first in opponent slugging percentage (.286) and second in strikeout percentage (31.5).

Snell threw the fewest innings (5.6) per start of any Cy Young winner, breaking his own mark when he averaged 5.8 innings in 2018.

He’s the 22nd pitcher overall to win the award multiple times.

Snell, who turns 31 next month, became a free agent after the World Series and rejected a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from the Padres on Tuesday to pursue a more lucrative contract.

The four previous San Diego pitchers to win the Cy Young Award were Randy Jones (1976), Perry (1978), reliever Mark Davis (1989) and Jake Peavy (2007).

Snell received 28 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb finished second and Zac Gallen of the NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks was third. Webb and Gallen each received one first-place vote.

Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider finished fourth in voting. Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele was fifth.

Cole, 33, was 15-4 with an AL-leading 2.63 ERA and league-leading 209 innings. He also led the league in fewest hits allowed (6.8) per nine innings, as well as WHIP (0.981). He’s the second No.1 overall pick to take home the award, joining David Price in 2012.

Cole finished fourth in voting for the NL Cy Young in 2015 while in Pittsburgh, then had a string of top-five finishes from 2018 to ’21. The six-time All-Star was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young in 2019 while a member of the Houston Astros and in 2021 with the Yankees.

Cole received all 30 first-place votes. Minnesota Twins right-hander Sonny Gray was the runner-up with 20 second-place votes, and Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays finished third. Baltimore Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish was fourth, followed by Seattle Mariners veteran Luis Castillo.

Cole became the sixth Yankees pitcher to win a Cy Young and first since Roger Clemens in 2001.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.