Yankees' Gerrit Cole Proving He's Best Starter in Baseball

Although It's early in the season, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is pitching like the best starting pitcher in the game of baseball.

In his latest outing on Sunday, Cole threw a complete game two-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins, in which he struck out 10 batters.

Overall on the year, Cole is 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, 466 ERA+, 1.91 FIP, and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 28.1 innings.

On Monday, Cole was named American League Player of the Week. From April 10-16, Cole led the AL with 16 innings, allowed seven hits, gave up two runs, walked three and struck out 13 batters. He had a 1.13 ERA and allowed a .185 on-base percentage and .365 OPS.

It's a Cole World. @GerritCole45 has been named the AL Player of the Week 👏 pic.twitter.com/XrUZzPBsGw
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 17, 2023

While Sandy Alcantra, Dylan Cease and Julio Urias are among the game's best starters, Cole has out pitched them all this season.

And as for Jacob deGrom, who might have the most talent, he has dealt with injuries over the past several years. DeGrom also holds a 4.32 ERA in his first three starts with the Texas Rangers.

Cole has also proven to be durable. He has thrown at least 200 innings in four out of his last five seasons, not counting the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign.

At age 32, Cole looks like he is hitting his stride in the prime years of his career. This is a great aspect for the Yankees, who are in the hunt for their 28th World Series title and need their ace to be on his game. So far, Cole has been.

Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport). Be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.