Major League Baseball's awards week continued on Wednesday evening with the announcement of the Cy Young Awards on MLB Network. Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres won the award for the best pitcher in the National League.
After the votes were tallied and revealed by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler finished sixth out of the eight pitchers who received votes for the NL Cy Young Award.
Wheeler received four third-place votes, five fourth-place votes, and six fifth-place votes for a total of 28 points. The right-hander finished behind Snell, who finished with 204 points, Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants, Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves, and Justin Steele of the Chicago Cubs.
Here's the final point breakdown, as released by the BBWAA:
Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blake Snell | 28 | 2 | 204 | |||
Logan Webb | 1 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 86 |
Zac Gallen | 1 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 68 |
Spencer Strider | 6 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 64 | |
Justin Steele | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 31 | |
Zack Wheeler | 4 | 5 | 6 | 28 | ||
Kodai Senga | 3 | 3 | 1 | 16 | ||
Corbin Burnes | 2 | 5 | 13 |
Wheeler was without question the Phillies' Cy Young winner in 2023. He made 32 starts in 2023, finished with a 13-6 record, 3.61 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and recorded 212 strikeouts in 192 regular-season innings. He registered a quality start in 21 of his games.
How does the 33-year-old's season stack up against the other Cy Young candidates?
He had a 9.94 K/9, the 12th-best mark among all qualified starters, and a 1.83 BB/9, the sixth-best rate. While his 3.61 ERA was 20th overall, his xERA was the fourth-best, and his FIP was the sixth-best.
However, Wheeler finished with a 5.9 fWAR, per FanGraphs, which was the highest in the major leagues among all pitchers. Yes, even higher than the Cy Young-winning Snell (4.1) and all the other candidates and finalists in both leagues.
While some may argue that Wheeler deserved better from the voters, all he can do now is focus on next season as he prepares to head into the final year of his five-year contract with the Phillies.