Gerrit Cole will miss at least the first month or two of the season with an elbow injury, but he is one of only a few current American League Cy Young Award winners to have trouble the following year. It happened recently.
Let’s take a look at some other recent winners who struggled with health or performance in the following seasons.
2022: Justin Verlander
After another great season with the Astros in 2022, Justin Verlander signed a two-year, $86.7 million contract with the Mets, but missed the beginning of the season with a minor teres injury.
He pitched pretty well in Queens before being traded to Houston midseason, but he didn’t match the dominance he had the year before.
2021: Robbie Ray
After having the best season of his career with the Blue Jays in 2021, Ray went to Seattle on a five-year, $115 million contract and saw his ERA rise almost a full point from 2.84 in 2022 to 3.71.
2020: Shane Bieber
Bieber tested positive for COVID-19 following Cy Young, but ended up playing at Illinois State with a subscapularis muscle strain that took him more than three months to play in Cleveland in 2021. .
2019: Justin Verlander
The right-handed pitcher’s 2020 season started with a groin injury that required surgery, and things only got worse from there.
Verlander started just one game before being sidelined with a torn forearm that required Tommy John surgery.
2018: Blake Snell
Snell signed Cy Young to a five-year, $50 million contract with the Rays.
Then, in April, he fractured a toe on his right foot while moving furniture, and underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body in his left elbow.
His ERA jumped from 1.89 to 4.29.
2017: Corey Kluber
The exception to the rule, at least recently, is that Kluber had about the same performance as Cleveland in 2018, finishing third in the voting and following up an impressive Cy Young Award campaign.
2016: Rick Porcello
Boston’s right-hander led the league in wins with 22 wins in 2016, but in 2017 he led the league in losses with 17 and hit 38 home runs.
2015: Dallas Keuchel
Keuchel’s ERA jumped from 2.48 to 4.55, but he later admitted that he pitched throughout the 2016 season with discomfort in his shoulder.
2014: Corey Kluber
A year after Kluber won a league-high 18 games, he lost a league-worst 16 and his ERA dropped from 2.44 to 3.49.
