Atlanta Braves left-handed starter Chris Sale won the National League Cy Young Award in 2024. The voting came down to Sale and Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.
Sale earned 26 first-place votes compared to Wheeler’s four, beating the Phillies’ right-hander by 68 points. Pittsburgh Pirates starter and the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year, Paul Skenes, finished in third place with 53 points.
Zack Wheeler’s Top 10 ranking tells you everything about last season’s Cy Young vote
Wheeler was named the top starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, per MLB Network’s annual Top 10 Players Right Now rankings. The Cy Young runner-up was ranked ahead of both 2024 Cy Young Award winners, Sale and Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal.
Wheeler had an incredible season in 2024, despite what some might think. The 34-year-old had a 16-7 record with a 2.57 ERA, 0.955 WHIP and 224 strikeouts across 200 innings pitched. Opponents hit just .192 against him, the lowest average against of his career.
The two-time All-Star was as dominant a starter as they come. It was the second time Wheeler finished second in Cy Young voting, the first came in 2021 when he was 10 points behind former Milwaukee Brewers starter Corbin Burnes.
The fact that Wheeler was ranked as the No. 1 starting pitcher in baseball heading into 2025 tells you everything about last season’s Cy Young vote. Sale had an incredible season and deserved the award just as much as Wheeler, but it’s telling that he was ranked as the No. 3 starting pitcher on the list.
The best starters in the Big Leagues, according to The Shredder!@MLBNow | #Top10RightNow pic.twitter.com/GyWOyGEyIY
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 15, 2025
Sale is one of the greatest pitchers of his generation. The 35-year-old is an eight-time All-Star, Triple Crown winner, Gold Glover, ERA title holder, World Series champion and now a Cy Young Award winner. He had previously finished in the top five of Cy Young voting six times during his time with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox, including a second-place finish in 2017.
Sale led the majors in wins, win-loss percentage, ERA, ERA+, FIP, HR/9 and SO/9 in 2024. He led the NL with 225 strikeouts, one more than Wheeler. Wheeler led the NL in WHIP and H/9.
The two pitchers were both dominant and had similar seasons. It’s worth noting that Wheeler started three more games and pitched 22 1/3 more innings than Sale, appearances that could’ve flipped the Cy Young vote.
Wheeler heads into the 2025 season still searching for his first Cy Young Award, but the baseball world believes the veteran is in for a special year.