Gerrit Cole Got Robbed by His Own Teammate for AL Cy Young

The baseball writers have struck again. The BBWAA awarded the Cy Young awards on Wednesday night, but not without controversy.

For the AL, Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander won his second ever Cy Young award. Yet, he did so by robbing his teammate, Gerrit Cole.

Justin Verlander won the AL Cy Young by 12 points. He got 17 first-place votes. Gerrit Cole got 13.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) November 13, 2019

When comparing the two, Verlander recorded the most wins in the entire league (21), while owning a 0.80 WHIP and throwing a no-hitter in September against the Toronto Blue Jays.

But Cole accomplished more important feats in less innings. Cole had a better ERA (2.50) as compared to Verlander (2.58), while setting the franchise strikeout record with 326, which happened to lead all of baseball this season.

Gerrit Cole:

didn’t lose a start since May 22nd

-was 18-0 with a 1.66 ERA during that stretch

-during that stretch, Cole had 10 straight starts with double digit SOs including a 15-strikeout performance against Tampa

and still lost the CY Young to Verlander.

really?? https://t.co/gJVXclIeD4
— David Santana (@dsantana310) November 14, 2019

Let's not forget that the members of the BBWAA love their WAR. It's the only reason why Marcus Semien was named a finalist for the AL MVP over a more-deserving DJ LeMahieu.

Yet Cole led the American League with a 7.4 WAR, with Verlander placing in third (6.4). How did the writers not name him the winner?

Gerrit Cole: 212.1 IP, 13.8 K/9, 2.50 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 7.4 fWAR.
Justin Verlander: 223 IP, 12 K/9, 2.58 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 6.4 fWAR.

Justin Verlander is the AL Cy Young Winner.

In what universe was Verlander better than Cole this year? This makes absolutely zero sense to me.
— James Fox (@JamesFox917) November 14, 2019

History has shown that having the most wins means nothing to the writers.

Let's not forget that back in 2010, Felix Hernandez won the AL Cy Young despite holding a 13-12 record that year. Even though New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia held the most wins in the league (21), he finished third in voting because Hernandez held a lower ERA (2.27) and had more strikeouts (232).

But this year, Verlander gets the award for having the most wins. Got it.

The writers have proven that they are inconsistent in their voting method year after year. Cole was the rightful winner of the AL Cy Young, not Verlander. Period.