Braves’ Chris Sale finishes third in NL Cy Young voting

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Atlanta Braves couldn’t have known they were getting a perennial Cy Young contender — and a pitcher who’d draw comparisons to Randy Johnson — when they acquired the injury-prone Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox at the end of 2023.

But that’s exactly what they’ve gotten. Sale finished third in this year’s NL Cy Young voting, two years after winning the award in his debut season with the Braves, and has four top-3 finishes and nine top-6 finishes going back to 2012.

Sale had logged just 151 total innings from 2020-23, but he rediscovered his elite form in Atlanta. He’s been an All-Star in each of his three seasons with the team and has even joined his idol Johnson in the record books. And yes, nobody can match The Big Unit, but Sale’s pretty darn close.

The left-hander reached 200 strikeouts for the ninth time in his career by fanning the final batter he faced in his regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Reds. He and Johnson are the only left-handers in MLB history with at least nine 200-strikeout seasons.

The strikeouts were just one part of Sale’s standout year. His 2.16 ERA ranked second in the NL, while his 0.98 WHIP was third, his 200 strikeouts were fourth and his .215 batting average allowed was sixth.

Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski finished first in a unanimous vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which took place before the postseason. The 24-year-old’s exceptional sophomore season ended with a World Series title, but he had already helped pave the way with a 1.80 ERA and 0.80 WHIP across 174 2/3 innings in 30 starts, striking out 252 hitters.

Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez finished second after posting an 18-7 record and 2.91 ERA in 33 starts.