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Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Robbie Ray is your 2021 AL Cy Young award winner. Ray beat out New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn for the award. Ray is the first Blue Jays’ pitcher to win the Cy Young since Roy Halladay back in 2003. The lefty also joins Halladay, Roger Clemens and Pat Hentgen as Toronto pitchers to win the Cy Young.
The 30-year-old led the League in most major pitching categories in 2021. Ray led MLB in starts (32), ERA (2.48), strikeouts (248), innings pitched (193.1), ERA+ (154) and WHIP (1.04) in 2021. He also helped the Blue Jays come within 1.0 game of reaching the postseason at 91-71.
While Cole had an AL Cy Young worthy season, it wasn’t nearly his best performance. He led the majors in wins at 16 with a 3.23 ERA and 243 strikeouts in 181.1 innings pitched for the Yanks, who finished as one of the AL Wild Card teams. Playoffs don’t count toward this award, but Cole struggled in the WC game, which the Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox.