Elusive chase for Cy Young in Sale's sights

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ATLANTA -- Chris Sale's stellar season has already landed him many honors, but it’s now time for him to make room for the big award, the one that has eluded him a few too many times in the past.

Sale gained his first Gold Glove Award, was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year and was named to the All-MLB First Team presented by MGM Rewards. There’s certainly reason to think he will win his first NL Cy Young Award when the winner is announced on MLB Network on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET.

This year’s other finalists are Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes. The Braves have had seven Cy Young Award winners, the second-most among all MLB teams, trailing only the Dodgers. But they haven’t had a winner since Tom Glavine in 1998.

Sale finished among the top six in Cy Young Award voting across seven straight seasons (2012-18) and he has totaled six top-five finishes. His best finishes occurred in 2017, when he finished second to Corey Kluber, and in 2014, when he finished third behind Kluber and Félix Hernández.

Here’s Sale's case for winning this year’s honor:

Sale finished four strikeouts shy of becoming the first pitcher since Johan Santana in 2006 to win MLB’s Triple Crown. He settled for the honor of being the first pitcher to win the NL’s Triple Crown in a 162-game season since Clayton Kershaw in 2011. The Braves lefty led the Majors in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and pitching fWAR (6.4). His NL-leading 225 strikeouts were just three shy of Detroit ace Tarik Skubal’s MLB-best total.

Sale also ranked first among MLB pitchers with a 32.1 percent strikeout rate and a 2.09 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). Though back discomfort prevented him from making his final regular-season start and in the Braves’ NL Wild Card Series against the Padres, he proved durable during his first healthy season since 2018. The NL Comeback Player of the Year posted a 1.96 ERA over his final 18 starts.

Wheeler completed exactly 200 innings, or 22 1/3 more than Sale. Wheeler’s resume is strong, as he led NL pitchers in WHIP (0.955), opponents’ batting average (.192), opponents’ on-base percentage (.253), opponents’ OPS (.581), opponents’ wOBA (.256), quality starts (26) and starts of six-plus innings (26).

Sale surrendered a higher batting average (.216), his .314 BABIP (Batting Average Balls in Play) vs. Wheeler’s (.246) indicates the latter benefited from more luck or better defensive play. Adjusted ERA+ takes a player's ERA and normalizes it across the entire league, accounting for external factors like ballparks and opponents. Sale’s MLB-best 174 ERA+ indicates he was 74 percent better than league average. Wheeler’s 158 ERA+ indicates he was 58 percent better than league average.