Padres' Blake Snell, Yankees' Gerrit Cole win Cy Young Awards - ESPN

San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell won his second Cy Young Award on Wednesday, this time in the National League, while New York Yankees hurler Gerrit Cole took home his first award unanimously after twice coming in second and finishing in the top five three other times.

Snell became the seventh player — and second left-hander — to win the award in each league, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. He previously won the AL Cy Young while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.

«It feels amazing,» Snell said. «It definitely feels good and I'm trying to enjoy this more than the first one I won.»

Snell was 14-9 with an MLB-leading 2.25 ERA and 180 innings pitched in 2023. He also gave up the fewest hits (5.8) per nine innings while leading the majors in walks (99).

He's the third pitcher to win the award while leading his league in free passes. Bob Turley and Early Wynn did it in 1958 and 1959, respectively.

Voting for National League Cy Young Award, as selected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (tabulated on a 7-4-3-2-1 basis):

Snell said he didn't concern himself with the walks, as he and Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla simply focused on getting outs.

«Me and Ruben kind of just throughout the year were like, 'The walks don't matter,'» Snell said. «If you walk a guy, who cares, let's get the next guy. 'You got nasty stuff, believe in it and attack the zone, you're going to be fine.'»

Snell also ranked first in opponent slugging percentage (.286) and second in strikeout percentage (31.5).

He's the 22nd pitcher overall to win the award multiple times.

Asked how he's a different pitcher now than when he won it the first time, Snell answered, «I