NL Triple Crown winner Sale a Cy Young finalist
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ATLANTA -- Chris Sale finished among the top six in American League Cy Young Award balloting over seven straight seasons (2012-18). Six years, many injuries and a move to the National League later, the rejuvenated Braves pitcher may finally experience the thrill of winning this coveted trophy.
Sale, the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and the Pirates’ Paul Skenes are the finalists for this year’s NL Cy Young Award. The winner will be announced on MLB Network on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. ET.
A Braves pitcher captured six of the NL Cy Young Awards presented from 1991-98. But the team hasn’t had a winner since Tom Glavine in 1998.
With Sale, Atlanta has its strongest candidate in more than 20 years. The 35-year-old left-hander won the NL Triple Crown by leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225). He was the first NL pitcher to lead in each of these categories since Clayton Kershaw in 2011.
Sale also finished three strikeouts behind the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal’s MLB-leading total. Had he passed Skubal while continuing to lead the Majors in ERA, he would have become MLB’s first Triple Crown winner since Johan Santana led the Majors in all three major categories in 2006.
The Braves lefty also ranked first among MLB pitchers with a 6.4 fWAR (FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement model), a 32.1 percent strikeout rate and a 2.09 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching).
Unfortunately, back discomfort sidelined Sale during the regular season’s final week and through the Braves’ NL Wild Card Series against the Padres. This was certainly not a fitting ending for the lanky southpaw who spent nearly six full months quieting those critics who had given up on him.
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Sale totaled just 151 innings for the Red Sox from 2020-23. This stretch included Tommy John surgery, a rib fracture, a pinkie fracture, a wrist fracture and a stress fracture in his left shoulder.
Still, the Braves were willing to take a chance on him getting healthy and regaining the form he had when he produced a 2.91 ERA over 208 appearances (207 starts) from 2012-18. They acquired him and $17 million from the Red Sox in exchange for utility infielder Vaughn Grissom last winter.
Sale took advantage of the Braves’ attempt to give him and each of their starters at least one extra day of rest whenever possible. He posted a 2.12 ERA through his first 10 starts, allowed eight earned runs over four innings against the A’s on June 1 and then posted a 1.96 ERA over his final 18 starts of the season.
Two of Sale’s three losses were of the tough-luck variety. He allowed two runs and struck out 10 over seven innings in a 2-1 loss to the Nationals on June 7. But the more frustrating result may have come on June 27, when he struck out 11 and allowed just one run in a 1-0 loss to the White Sox.
Sale finished second behind Corey Kluber in balloting for the 2017 AL Cy Young Award and third behind Kluber and Félix Hernández in 2014. Those stand as his top finishes to date.