"Worth the 324 m" "Elite pitcher" - New York Yankees fans hail Gerrit Cole as the pitcher reaches the 200 strikeout mark this season

Gerrit Cole eclipsed the 200 strikeout mark last night, becoming the first pitcher in MLB to do so. The New York Yankees defeated the Oakland Athletics by a score of 3-2 on Friday night. Cole went 7.1 innings on three hits and struck out 11 batters.

Earning his 10th win of the season, Gerrit Cole has been pitching like an ace this season. Leading the league in total strikeouts, Cole notched his seventh game where he threw 10+ strikeouts. Cole's performances this year have New York fans ecstatic.

Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees before the 2020 season. This gives him an average annual value (AAV) of $36 million. This makes Cole the eighth highest-paid player in MLB.

His career-high for strikeouts was 326 in 2019 when he was with the Houston Astros. With the season nearing September, the 300-mark might be a stretch. But this is baseball and weirder things have happened.

The strikeout title will come down to a close finish. Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes sits just 10 strikeouts behind Cole. There are three pitchers within 15 strikeouts of the Yankees ace. Gerrit Cole will have to keep adding high-strikeout games if he wants to close out the season with the most strikeouts.

While Cole leads the league in strikeouts, he's not even in the running for AL Cy Young. Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease seem to be in a head-to-head battle for that.

Cole has a 3.31 ERA this season. This ranks in 27th among MLB pitchers, which isn't the greatest. This could be a big reason why he's not among the top names for the AL Cy Young.

Some fans are also pointing out his record for the year, which is 10-6. This has him tied for 20th. ERA and record are the two things that hold Cole back from being the best pitcher in the league.

Gerrit Cole is setting up the New York Yankees for a deep October run

New York Yankees v Oakland Athletics

While Gerrit Cole leads the league in strikeouts, he's setting the New York Yankees up for a dominant postseason run. The Yankees are sitting in first place in the American League East. They hold a comfortable nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays.

With Cole having a dominant year, Aaron Judge is having a career-year. Judge leads the league in homeruns at 49, RBIs at 109, and OPS at 1.063. The New York Yankees are looking like serious World Series contenders this year.