Blue Jays News: Kevin Gausman named 2023 AL Cy Young Award finalist

Another stellar season from a Toronto Blue Jays pitcher has resulted in another Cy Young finalist.

Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman has been named one of three finalists for the 2023 American League Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees and Sonny Gray of the Minnesota Twins are the other finalists for the prestigious pitching award.

Gausman joins Alek Manoah (2022) and Robbie Ray (2021) as the most recent Blue Jays pitchers to be named Cy Young finalists. Ray famously won the Cy Young in his year, while Manoah finished third in voting last year.

In his second season in Toronto, Gausman took the reigns as the team's top starter and led one of the top rotations in baseball.

The 32-year-old right-hander pitched to a 12-9 record with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP with 237 strikeouts in 185 innings over 31 starts.

As for where Gausman ranks among his peers, he finished at the top of the AL with a 5.3 fWAR, tied with Sonny Gray and just ahead of Gerrit Cole's 5.2 fWAR. While he finished fourth in ERA, behind both Cole (2.63) and Gray (2.79), his 11.53 K/9 was far and away the best mark in the AL. He was well ahead of Cole in seventh with 9.56 and Gray in 11th with 8.95.

There isn't much separating the three finalists in the advanced stats either. Gausman's 2.97 FIP was second to Gray's 2.83, while Cole was just behind in fourth at 3.16. In SIERA, the Blue Jay was the best of the three with a 3.34 mark, while Cole finished with 3.63 and Gray with 3.95.

Gausman will look to become the fifth Blue Jay to win the AL Cy Young Award after Pat Hentgen (1996), Roger Clemens (1997, 1998), Roy Halladay (2003), and Ray (2021).

Both the AL and NL Cy Young winners will be announced on MLB Network on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. ET.