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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 F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez.

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.