Was Sonny Gray snubbed for Pitcher of the Month?

The Minnesota Twins’ starting pitching has been lights out to start the 2023 season and no one on the staff has had a better start than Sonny Gray.

Gray was 4-0 in six starts in March/April with a major league best ERA of 0.77, allowing just three earned runs in 35 innings of work. The 33-year-old righty struck out 41 batters while allowing 12 walks in the first month of the season.

So, why wasn’t he AL Pitcher of the Month?

A little bit of major-market bias probably came into play. A history of being one of the best pitchers in the game most likely helped. Being one of the few good things on an average team also probably played a bit into it.

Gerrit Cole’s March/April looked nearly as elite as Gray’s did.

The Yankees ace was 5-0 in six starts with an ERA of 1.11, allowing only five earned runs. Cole struck out 44 batters while allowing just 11 walks. He also had a complete game shutout of the Twins on April 16th, something Gray didn’t have in the opening month.

While Cole looked outstanding the rest of the Yankees pitchers so far this season have a combined ERA of 5.35.

Compare that to the 3.99 ERA of the rest of the Twins’ starting staff and Cole’s numbers pop out.

That’s no excuse for why Gray was snubbed for an entirely individual award but it goes to show how much Cole has stuck out in an overall underwhelming Yankees staff.

Gerrit Cole: 5-0, 44 Ks, 1.11 ERA, .169 BAA
Clayton Kershaw: 5-1, 41 Ks, 1.89 ERA, .175 BAA

Your AL and NL Pitchers of the Month! pic.twitter.com/FruSQBFRdW

— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2023