Braves' Chris Sale finally wins the elusive Cy Young award in dominating fashion

After dominating the American League for nearly a decade, Chris Sale's first season in the National League saw him finally capture that elusive Cy Young award. To no surprise, Sale was the winner of the NL Cy Young award after the Braves ace had a season for the ages. It's the latest, and most prestigious, line of hardware for the Braves ace this offseason.

Sale finished in the top six in AL Cy Young voting in seven consecutive seasons from 2012-2018. However, in his age 35 Sale finally blew the competition away enough that voters had no choice but to pencil him in for Cy Young.

Sale wins Cy Young award in impressive fashion over Wheeler, Skenes

Sale last received a vote for the Cy Young in 2018 when he was still in Boston. It was also the last season in which Sale threw at least 150 innings. Now, Sale is once again healthy and back to the dominant pitcher he has always been when on the mound.

The voting results came as expected with Sale 26 of the 30 possible first place votes. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler finished second. Both Sale and Skubal earned the pitching Triple Crown in their respective league.

For Sale, it was the first NL pitching Triple Crown since Clayton Kershaw accomplished it back in 2011. Sale did so by leading the National League with 18 wins, 2.38 ERA, and 225 strikeouts.

His advanced metrics were even more impressive. In 2024 Sale ended up leading all MLB qualified pitchers in ERA (2.38), FIP (2.09), xFIP (2.64), SIERA (2.80), K% (32.1), HR/9 (0.46), and fWAR (6.4). The results don't get much more dominate than that.

The numbers are why the Sale for Grissom trade looks like one of the most lopsided trades of last offseason. It's awesome to see a competitor and hard-worker like Sale finally get that recognition for being the best at his position.

As Sale heads toward the last stretch of seasons in his illustrious career, he'll look to continue to dominate hitters with the same competitive spirit and filthy pitches he has done so with for over a decade. More seasons like 2024 will not only make Braves fans happy, but it will further strengthen his Hall of Fame resumé.

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