MLB: Who won the 2023 American and National League Cy Young Award?
Given the year that the Padres’ ace just had, it really isn’t surprising in the least that he was named the best pitcher in MLB’s National League in 2023.
Voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), the Cy Young Award is given in recognition of the best pitcher in each of MLB’s leagues. Where the Padres star is concerned, it’s worth noting that he’s made history as well.
Blake Snell is the 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner
On Wednesday evening, the San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell was awarded the National League’s Cy Young Award. If that sounds familiar, that’s because he’s received the award before. Back in 2018, Snell won the award while playing for the Tampa Bay Rays. Incidentally, that makes the 30-year-old just the seventh pitcher in MLB history to win the award in both the AL and NL, while also becoming the 22nd pitcher to win it multiple times. Setting the standard in the NL across the campaign, Snell posted an ERA of 2.25, while seeing out 180 innings across 32 starts.
Where strikes are concerned, there were a whole lot of them as he struck out 234 hitters and allowed a league-low 5.8 hits per nine innings. Conversely Snell also had the most walks in MLB this past season with 99, but who’s checking? As for the Padres themselves, 2023 was not their best year as they ended the season with only 82 wins, a fact made more ominous when considering that Snell was in the final year of his contract and subsequently entered free agency at the end of this most recent campaign. The lefty is the fifth pitcher in Padres history to win the award alongside the likes of Randy Jones (1976), Gaylord Perry (1978), Mark Davis (1989) and Jake Peavy (2007).
The other finalists for this year’s award were San Franciso Giants starter Logan Webb and Arizona Diamondbacks righty Zac Gallen.