MLB announced on Tuesday that Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers had earned the Cy Young Awards for the finest pitchers in their respective leagues.
Skubal received the American League award, and Sale took home the National League accolade. Leading the NL and the AL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, both earned Triple Crowns in their respective leagues this season.
In his debut season with the Braves, Sale went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts. Since 2011, Sale has been the first player in the National League to earn the Triple Crown for pitching.
Additionally, Skubal became the first player in the AL to win the Triple Crown for pitching in a full season since 2011. His 18-4 record, 228 strikeouts, and 2.39 ERA were strikingly identical to Sale’s.
One of MLB’s best pitchers for a long time is 35-year-old Sale. He placed in the top six in each season’s Cy Young voting from 2012 to 2018. He finished third in 2014 and second in 2017.
However, injuries plagued Sale in the beginning of this decade. He missed the whole 2020 season following Tommy John surgery, and over the next two years, he made just 11 starts.
Sale’s salary for this season was essentially covered by the Boston Red Sox’s December trade to the Braves, which also sent Atlanta $17 million. In January, Atlanta extended Sale’s contract by two years and $38 million, demonstrating their faith in his health.
Prior to spending six seasons with the Red Sox, Sale played with the Chicago White Sox for the first seven years of his career.
Skubal, 28, had his best season as a professional after overcoming his personal injury problems. Despite winning AL Pitcher of the Month in September 2023, he only pitched 80 1/3 innings in 2023 due to flexor tendon surgery the previous year.
Skubal became the only pitcher in Tigers history to record more than 40 strikeouts and fewer than nine walks in his first six outings in late April.
Skubal, who played on a one-year, $2.65 million contract last season, is eligible this summer. Detroit may attempt to sign him to an extension before the 2026 season, when he will be eligible for free agency.
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