The New York Yankees are having a terrible season. Their star pitcher, Gerrit Cole, most definitely is not.
The Yanks were languishing at .500 when baseball’s 2023 schedule reached the three-quarters mark on August 15. New York’s record was precisely 60-60 after the club lost that evening to Atlanta, its fourth straight defeat.
Things soon got worse. The Yankees proceeded to botch their next five games, pushing their winning percentage down to .480, unfamiliar territory for a franchise that has finished above .500 every year since 1993.
Cole, however, has remained a beacon of excellence despite his dismal surroundings. He posted a 2.76 ERA over the first three-quarters of the season. His record of 10-3, outstanding though it was, probably should have been even better. The Yankees supported him with three runs or fewer in nine of his 25 starts.
Cole’s strong 2023 performance is affirmed by my calculations of base values. BV, as you’ll recall, is a comparison of the bases allowed by a given pitcher and the number that a typical counterpart would have surrendered under the same circumstances. A negative number is ideal, since it indicates that a pitcher has yielded fewer bases than average. (Click here to read more about base values.)
Cole has established himself as the American League’s pitching leader in BV — and hence the clear frontrunner for the Cy Young Award. His figure at the three-quarters pole was minus-81, which was 17 bases better than the BV of minus-64 for runner-up George Kirby of the Seattle Mariners.
It’s time, I think, to start engraving Cole’s trophy.
Scroll downward to see the 20 American League leaders in pitching base value after three-fourths of the 2023 schedule, followed by a team-by-team list of BV leaders. We’ll turn our attention to National League pitchers tomorrow.
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AL top 20 pitching base values
1. Gerrit Cole, Yankees, BV -81
2. George Kirby, Mariners, BV -64
3. Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers, BV -62
3. Sonny Gray, Twins, BV -62
5. Zach Eflin, Rays, BV -55
6. Pablo Lopez, Twins, BV -53
7. Framber Valdez, Astros, BV -52
8. Shohei Ohtani, Angels, BV -51
9. Kyle Bradish, Orioles, BV -49
10. Dane Dunning, Rangers, BV -48
11. Logan Gilbert, Mariners, BV -46
11. Tyler Holton, Tigers, BV -46
13. Luis Castillo, Mariners, BV -44
13. Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays, BV -44
13. Michael Lorenzen, Tigers, BV -44
16. Eduardo Rodriguez, Tigers, BV -42
17. Aaron Civale, Guardians-Rays, BV -41
18. Felix Bautista, Orioles, BV -38
19. Jason Foley, Tigers, BV -37
19. J.P. France, Astros, BV -37
AL leaders by club
Angels — Shohei Ohtani, BV -51
Astros — Framber Valdez, BV -52
Athletics — Austin Pruitt, BV -17
Blue Jays — Kevin Gausman, BV -44
Guardians — Aaron Civale, BV -44
Mariners — George Kirby, BV -64
Orioles — Kyle Bradish, BV -49
Rangers — Nathan Eovaldi, BV -62
Rays — Zach Eflin, BV -55
Red Sox — Chris Martin, BV -27
Royals — Carlos Hernandez, BV -24
Tigers — Tyler Holton, BV -46
Twins — Sonny Gray, BV -62
White Sox — Gregory Santos, BV -28
Yankees — Gerrit Cole, BV -81