Gray a finalist for AL Cy Young for 1st time since 2015
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MINNEAPOLIS -- There was never any question as to the importance of the Twins finding a way to either bring Sonny Gray back to the Twin Cities or replace his production -- but it still was all the more clear on Monday, when Gray was named one of the three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award.
Gray was named a finalist alongside Gerrit Cole of the Yankees and Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays, with the winner to be announced on Nov. 15 as part of a 5 p.m. CT show on MLB Network.
Slated to enter free agency this offseason, Gray is the first Twins pitcher named a Cy Young finalist since fellow departing rotation-mate Kenta Maeda finished as the runner-up to Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber in the 2020 Cy Young voting. The Twins offered Gray the one-year, $20.325 million qualifying offer on Monday, which he is expected to decline.
Following an offseason of conditioning work, Gray stayed healthy and made all 32 of his starts, finishing second among AL pitchers in WAR, per both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, while also finishing second in the AL to Cole with a 2.79 ERA. Gray allowed eight homers during the regular season, the fewest in a full season by a qualified pitcher in Twins history.
Though Pablo López was the club’s Opening Day starter, playoff Game 1 starter and ace throughout the season, Gray was arguably more effective in his season-long results and consistency -- and that’s what has the right-hander in the mix to join Johan Santana, Frank Viola and Jim Perry as the only Twins pitchers to win a Cy Young Award. Santana was the last to win, when he won his second in ‘06.
Gray often suffered from a lack of run support in ‘23, but he did his part in the vast majority of those starts, as he allowed more than three earned runs in only three of his 32 starts and completed at least six innings in 19 of those outings. His 2.79 ERA was the lowest in a full, qualified season by a Twins pitcher since Santana in ‘06, and Gray’s 184 innings and 183 strikeouts were his most since 2015 and ‘19, respectively.
Gray went through a midseason lull in which he didn’t feel he was attacking opposing hitters and his walks spiked, but he finished strong when the Twins needed him for the playoff push, posting a 2.03 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 11 walks in 66 2/3 innings from August through the end of the season.
“I'm coming at you; let's see how far you can hit it -- it puts me in a competitive attack, ‘Here it is, like I'm coming right at you,’ mindset,” Gray said of his approach during the ALDS. “Like I've said, that is when I'm at my best. It's amazing what happens when you do put yourself in that mindset and you have that thought. ‘Here it is. Let's see how far you can hit it.’”
The Twins did not have any finalists in the AL Rookie of the Year, MVP or Manager of the Year voting, the results of which will also be announced next week from Nov. 13-16.