Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale is the winner of the 2024 National League Cy Young Award.
With 177 2/3 innings pitched, 225 strikeouts, 2.09 FIP and a 2.38 ERA, he defeated strong runner-up Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies for the award. Wheeler avoided Sale’s unanimous vote, capturing four of the 30 BBWAA first-place votes. Sale got the other 26.
Sale, who won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award last week, is also the winner of the NL Triple Crown, meaning he led the league in ERA, strikeouts and wins (18). The last Braves pitcher to win the Cy Young was Tom Glavine in 1998.
Sale, 35, put together an incredible comeback season. The 15-year MLB veteran had a dismal 2023 with the Boston Red Sox, but got the chance to start over when he was traded to the Braves in December. Sale then signed a two-year, $38 million contract with the Braves, becoming their latest Charlie Morton-style reclamation project.
However, it is not entirely correct to call Sale a ‘reclamation project’. He was the ace for the Chicago White Sox and the Red Sox for many years. Sale was drafted 13th overall by the White Sox in 2010 and made his debut that same season, but he didn’t really break through until 2012, beginning a stellar seven-year run that saw him make the All-Star Game and finish in the top flight . six of Cy Young votes each season. He also didn’t miss a step after being traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox in 2016.
Then the injuries started piling up in 2020, a season he missed entirely after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. Due to illness and ongoing elbow recovery, he didn’t make his 2021 debut until late summer. The 2022 season was somehow even worse. His year started with a rib stress fracture he suffered while throwing batting practice. He eventually returned to the Red Sox in July and broke the middle finger of his pitching hand shortly thereafter. That was followed by a bicycle accident that resulted in a broken wrist, ending his season.
After his poor 2023 season, in which Sale battled a shoulder issue, Sale wasn’t the hottest commodity on the trade market. All the Braves were trying to get was second baseman Vaughn Grissom and some money. But it’s a move that has paid off for them – and for Sale – in the biggest ways.
