Three-way pitchers
Nobody won the Triple Crown in 2023, though Cole and Snell made valiant tries
Any true baseball fan can reel off the three statistical cornerstones of the honor that we discussed last Friday. The Triple Crown is awarded to the rare hitter who simultaneously tops his league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
A pitching counterpart does exist, though it isn’t nearly as well known. A pitcher earns Triple Crown recognition if he posts the most wins, generates the lowest earned run average, and notches the most strikeouts in his league. (The ERA column is limited to pitchers who have worked at least 162 innings.)
It’s ironic that the batting Triple Crown is much better known, despite being much less common. Only three hitters, as we noted last week, have earned the award during the Modern Era, which encompasses the 63 seasons since 1961.
But 14 Triple Crowns have been won by pitchers over the same period, most recently by Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) in the Covid-truncated 2020 season.
There was no real chance of a 15th honoree emerging in 2023, especially not in the American League, where different pitchers led each category:
Wins: Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays) and Zach Eflin (Rays), 16
ERA: Gerrit Cole (Yankees), 2.63
Strikeouts: Kevin Gausman (Blue Jays), 237
The likelihood was a bit higher in the National League, which featured the same winner in two categories, though he was unable to break through in the third:
Wins: Spencer Strider (Braves), 20
ERA: Blake Snell (Padres), 2.25
Strikeouts: Spencer Strider (Braves), 281
You might recall that last Friday’s story featured a Triple Crown rating system that assigned 14 points to the league leader in each batting category, with the nine runners-up receiving points on a descending scale from nine to one. (It’s the same distribution system used in voting for the Most Valuable Player Award.)
I’ve used the identical scoring system for pitchers, with Cole and Snell emerging as the winners in their respective leagues.
Cole breezed to the American League title by a score of 30-22 over runner-up Gausman. The Yankees mainstay augmented his ERA title by finishing third with 15 wins and third again with 222 strikeouts.
Snell’s National League victory may come as a small surprise, given that Strider led two of the three relevant categories, thereby earning 14 points for each. But the Atlanta ace finished 12th with a 3.86 ERA, which brought him no additional credit at all.
Snell outpaced Strider by a single point, 29-28, thanks to the San Diego starter’s rankings of first in ERA, fifth with 14 wins, and second with 234 strikeouts.
You’ll find the complete standings for this version of the Triple Crown below. Each pitcher is followed in parentheses by his wins, earned run average, and strikeouts.
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American League
1. Gerrit Cole, Yankees (15/2.63/222), 30 points
2. Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays (12/3.16/237), 22 points
3. Luis Castillo, Mariners (14/3.34/219), 19 points
4. Zach Eflin, Rays (16/3.50/186), 18 points
5. Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays (16/3.60/186), 17 points
6. George Kirby, Mariners (13/3.35/172), 10 points
7. Pablo Lopez, Twins (11/3.66/234), 9 points
7. Framber Valdez, Astros (12/3.45/200), 9 points
7. Sonny Gray, Twins (8/2.79/183), 9 points
7. Kyle Bradish, Orioles (12/2.83/168), 9 points
11. Kyle Gibson, Orioles (15/4.73/157), 8 points
12. Logan Gilbert, Mariners (13/3.73/189), 7 points
13. Dylan Cease, White Sox (7/4.58/214), 6 points
14. Lucas Giolito, White Sox-Angels-Guardians (8/4.88/204), 5 points
14. Dean Kremer, Orioles (13/4.12/157), 5 points
14. Eduardo Rodriguez, Tigers (13/3.30/143), 5 points
17. Joe Ryan, Twins (11/4.51/197), 3 points
18. Jose Berrios, Blue Jays (11/3.65/184), 1 point
18. Dane Dunning, Rangers (12/3.70/140), 1 point
18. Brayan Bello, Red Sox (12/4.24/132), 1 point
18. Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers (12/3.63/132), 1 point
18. Colin Poche, Rays (12/2.23/61), 1 point
National League
1. Blake Snell, Padres (14/2.25/234), 29 points
2. Spencer Strider, Braves (20/3.86/281), 28 points
3. Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks (17/3.47/220), 21 points
4. Justin Steele, Cubs (16/3.06/176), 16 points
5. Zack Wheeler, Phillies (13/3.61/212), 13 points
6. Kodai Senga, Mets (12/2.98/202), 12 points
7. Mitch Keller, Pirates (13/4.21/210), 9 points
8. Logan Webb, Giants (11/3.25/194), 7 points
8. Charlie Morton, Braves (14/3.64/183), 7 points
8. Taijuan Walker, Phillies (15/4.38/138), 7 points
11. Freddy Peralta, Brewers (12/3.86/210), 6 points
11. Jesus Luzardo, Marlins (10/3.63/208), 6 points
11. Corbin Burnes, Brewers (10/3.39/200), 6 points
11. Merrill Kelly, Diamondbacks (12/3.29/187), 6 points
11. Michael Wacha, Padres (14/3.22/124), 6 points
16. Aaron Nola, Phillies (12/4.46/202), 3 points
16. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (13/2.46/137), 3 points