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| AP photo by Jason Allen / Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale receives recognition for being the team's Roberto Clemente Award nominee for 2024 before the start of a home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 15 at Truist Park. |
Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal have a lot in common: left-handed, pitching Triple Crown winners, former Tommy John surgery patients. And now, first-time Cy Young Award recipients.
Sale's comeback season with the Atlanta Braves ended with the National League honor, as he received 26 of the 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America to finish ahead of Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler, who received the other four, and Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes.
Skubal, the ace for the Detroit Tigers, won the American League award in unanimous fashion, with Kansas City's Seth Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA) finishing a distant second in the voting. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase (47 saves) was third.
It was only the third time two left-handers won Cy Young honors in the same season, with Steve Carlton and Sparky Lyle winning in 1977 and Randy Johnson and Barry Zito in 2002.
Sale, 35, finished 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts -- leading the NL in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He and Skubal were the first pitchers to win the Triple Crown in a full season since Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander did it in 2011 (Shane Bieber did it in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).
A pitching Triple Crown has happened 25 times, and a Cy Young Award has followed each time.
Sale's resurgence was a blast from last decade, when he was one of the top starting pitchers in the sport. He had battled a series of injuries since 2019, including Tommy John surgery in March 2020.
"To be able to show my sons the hard work, the dedication, not giving up. My wife having my back the whole time. I'm sure I was real peachy at times during those injuries," Sale said. "I was talking to my dad the other day and whether it did or didn't happen, he was proud of me."
From 2020 to 2023, Sale made only 31 starts, although 20 of those came with the Boston Red Sox last season. The Braves took a chance and acquired him in an offseason trade.
"The biggest thing is health," said Sale, who was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year last week at Major League Baseball's All-MLB Awards Show. "I was healthy earlier in my career and I was able to sustain some success and stay out on the field. Ran into a buzz saw over the past handful of years. Just couldn't stay healthy, couldn't stay on the field, and you're not doing anything when you're not on the field."
He responded with a season that looked like his prime years with the White Sox and Red Sox from 2012 to 2018, when he received Cy Young votes all seven seasons -- finishing second, third, fourth, fifth (twice) and sixth (twice). He had been tied with Mike Mussina and Nolan Ryan for the most top-five finishes (six) without winning.
In 2024, Sale made his most starts and pitched his most innings since 2017, not missing a start until the final week of the season, when he was scratched in a crucial season-ending series against the New York Mets because of back spasms and then sat out the Braves' wild-card series loss to the San Diego Padres.
Along the way, Sale won his final eight decisions as the Braves won a wild-card berth, overcoming a disappointing first half to make a late run and capture a playoff spot on the final day of the season. The Braves went 12-2 over his final 14 starts, with Sale posting a 1.93 ERA.
He not only led the NL in the Triple Crown categories but also led in ERA+, fewest home runs allowed per nine innings (0.5), strikeout rate (32.1%) and most strikeouts per nine (11.4). He led all pitchers in FanGraphs WAR (6.4) while ranking third behind Skubal and Cincinnati's Hunter Greene in Baseball-Reference WAR (6.2).
Sale's ERA was the lowest for a Braves left-hander in the expansion era (since 1961).
It was the eighth Cy Young for the Braves' organization, and the first since Tom Glavine won for the second time in 1998.
With his signature unorthodox sidearm delivery, Sale's stuff hasn't lost anything from his prime, despite all the injuries. He averaged 94.8 mph on his fastball, and batters hit just .171 with one home run in 280 at-bats off his slider.
"It's special and I appreciate it," Sale said. "It wasn't just me rolling out there and throwing the baseball. There were a lot of people who got me here: teammates, family, training staff. For me to go out there and do what I was able to do, I wouldn't have done it without them. The last few years were tough, so to go through what I went through with the support I had, I'm very thankful."
Skubal, who celebrated his 28th birthday Wednesday, had the breakout season that many saw coming after the second half of the 2023 season. He finished 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 2024. He was certainly the team MVP for the surprising Tigers, who had a historic surge over the final seven weeks of the season to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
"It was a ton of fun to be part of," Skubal said. "The last two months of our season and even the postseason was very special. The memories and the experience will obviously help our club going forward, and I'm glad we got to experience it as a team and as a young team."
Skubal, who had Tommy John surgery in college at Seattle University, was a ninth-round pick of the Tigers in 2018, but he climbed quickly through the minors and reached the majors in 2020. After a solid rookie season in 2021, he battled injuries in 2022 and '23, but he posted a 2.80 ERA in 15 starts last season, including 2.15 over his final 10 outings.
That carried over into 2024. Skubal won his first six decisions, posting a 1.80 ERA, and made his first All-Star team. With the Tigers under .500 as the trade deadline approached, Skubal's name was mentioned in trade rumors, but the Tigers kept him -- although they did trade Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
An unlikely run to the postseason followed. The Tigers were 55-63 on Aug. 10 but went 31-13 in their final 44 games. Skubal went 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA over that stretch, including two 2-1 victories.
His ERA was the lowest for a qualified Detroit starter since Mark Fidrych in 1976, and he's the Tigers' first Cy Young winner since Max Scherzer in 2013. Verlander, Willie Hernandez and Denny McLain (twice) also won the award with Detroit.
Skubal has a five-pitch repertoire, and his four-seam fastball averaged 96.8 mph and ranked in the 99th percentile of all pitchers in Statcast run value. He mixes in a changeup, sinker, slider and knuckle-curveball. Overall, batters hit just .201 against him with a .558 OPS.
"It's special," Skubal said. "All the hard work, all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, moments like this make it extremely worth it."
Skenes, the 22-year-old who won the NL Rookie of the Year award Monday, finished third in the NL Cy Young balloting -- just the fifth rookie to finish among the top three. Only Fernando Valenzuela won both awards in the same year, in 1981 with the Dodgers in the NL.
Clase, with a 0.61 ERA in 74⅓ innings over 74 games, is the first reliever to finish among the top three in Cy Young voting since San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman came in second for the NL award in 2006.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer
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