By now, everyone is acutely aware that Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale is the NL Cy Young favorite by a pretty wide margin. He became the first pitching triple crown winner since 2011 thanks to his 18 wins, 2.38 ERA, and 225 strikeouts and the advanced metrics suggest that he was even more dominant than that. Throughout the 2024 regular season, Sale not only showed a return to form, but perhaps was the best version of himself in his entire career.
That said, the National League does have some other worthy Cy Young candidates. Zack Wheeler mostly (and annoyingly) kept pace with Sale for the division rival Phillies and Pirates rookie Paul Skenes took the baseball world by storm from the moment he was called up in May. In most other seasons, either Wheeler or Skenes would have been heavy Cy Young favorites which speaks to just how special Sale's season truly was.
In the lead up to Wednesday's Cy Young announcement. Wheeler's and Skenes' supporters have already been airing out their grievances ahead of Sale's expected win. However, one of his chief competitors, Paul Skenes, just went on the record to say that Sale deserves the NL Cy Young.
Paul Skenes says it's nice to be considered, but believes that Atlanta veteran Chris Sale will, and should, be the NL Cy Young award winner.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 19, 2024
Even Paul Skenes, a top contender, thinks that Chris Sale should win the NL Cy Young
Obviously Skenes' endorsement isn't going to impact the results at all now as the votes have already been cast, but it is still a very classy gesture from one of baseball's brightest young stars. After posting a 1.96 ERA in the first 23 starts of his career, everyone can agree that Skenes is going to be a problem for the rest of the league for a long time assuming he can stay healthy.
It should be telling that even one of Sale's top competitors thinks he should win the top pitching honor in the National League this year. Experts are nearly unanimous in thinking the exact same thing. Skenes, Wheeler, Dylan Cease, and Cristopher Sanchez all had tremendous seasons, but Sale's was simply on another level as he led the NL in fWAR, FIP, and K/9 by significant margins in addition to his pitching triple crown for the counting stats enthusiasts.
At this point, the only question seems to be whether or not Sale will win in unanimous fashion. Given the tribalism that exists in BBWAA and the quality of the opposition, getting every first place vote feels like a stretch. We will find out soon enough how convincing Sale's first Cy Young award after finishing in the top 5 six separate times before this season will be as the winner will be revealed at 6 PM EST on Wednesday, November 20.