San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell won the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, becoming the seventh player — and second left-hander — to win the award in each league. Meanwhile, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole won the AL edition for his first Cy Young Award.
Snell previously won the AL Cy Young while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.
Snell, 30, 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, currently a free agent, beat out the San Francisco Giants‘ Logan Webb and Arizona Diamondbacks‘ Zac Gallen for the award, receiving 28 of 30 first-place votes. 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 finished fifth.
