Even though the Atlanta Braves haven't exactly given him the best run support lately, what Chris Sale has been doing this season is nothing short of incredible. After basically being left for dead in Boston after a series of injuries, the Braves went out and traded for Sale anyway, and all he has done ever since is be one of the absolute best pitchers in baseball.
At 37 years old, Sale ranks up there with any pitcher in MLB right now, both in terms of stuff and production. Through 22 starts this season, Sale has posted a 2.16 ERA, 2.29 FIP, and 3.06 xERA with 160 strikeouts against just 28 walks in 129 innings. In fact, he has even been better in some ways than when he won the Cy Young a couple of years ago, so it stands to reason that he should be a frontrunner for his second one in 2026, right?
Well, not so fast. In most years, Sale would absolutely be a favorite to win the Cy Young with what he has done in 2026 thus far. Unfortunately, as we can see in MLB's latest Cy Young poll, the competition this year is fierce, and Sale will have a tough time even breaking into the top two.
Chris Sale placed third in the latest Cy Young poll behind both Jacob Misiorowski and Cristopher Sanchez
It definitely stinks that Sale's insane 2026 season so far only mustered enough support to place third in the poll of experts with 113 points and no first-place votes. It stinks even more when you look at the numbers and realize that the voters were probably right.
We'll start with Jacob Misiorowski, as he is the easiest case to understand. In short, he has been a video game end-boss pitcher this season. Overcoming a guy with a 1.75 ERA across 23 starts would be tough enough, but Misiorowski has also been a strikeout machine with 210 punch-outs in 139 innings. Yes, that is as crazy as it sounds, and beating him for the Cy Young might require Misiorowski to absolutely crater or get hurt, and even that might not be enough.
Miz is the obvious obstacle for Sale's second Cy Young, but the Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez is equally problematic. Sanchez's case looks strong given how many innings/starts he has thrown when compared to Sale, and some voters will absolutely reward that. Through 26 starts this season, Sanchez has posted 5.2 fWAR with a 2.51 ERA in 161.2 innings of work. Philly also has Jesus Luzardo nipping at Sale's heels in the fWAR race, although his numbers aren't nearly as impressive as the top three guys.
Given what we know now, there is a very good chance that Sale ends up in the top three in the NL Cy Young race when the dust settles at the end of the season. Unfortunately, winning the trophy appears to be a very tall order, and cracking the top two will require a lot to break Sale's way.
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