Braves’ Chris Sale Wins N.L. Cy Young Award After Stunning Comeback Season

Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale was named the 2024 N.L. Cy Young Award winner Wednesday, completing a storybook year many thought impossible. After five dreadful, injury-plagued years with the Red Sox, the eight-time All-Star went to Atlanta and returned to glory, earning an 18-3 record and 2.38 ERA.

Sale won his first Cy Young Award in commanding fashion, earning 26 of 30 first-place votes over fellow finalists Zack Wheeler and Paul Skenes. Both pitchers had spectacular 2024 seasons, but Sale was a step above in his first full season in over five years.

“To be able to show my sons the hard work, the dedication, not giving up,” Sale said after winning the award. “My wife having my back the whole time. I’m sure I was real peachy at times during those injuries. I was talking to my dad the other day, and whether it did or didn’t happen, he was proud of me.”

Sale’s career before 2024 was neatly cut into two parts, with a steep regression almost immediately following nearly a decade of immense success. With the White Sox from 2010 to 2016, he quickly found his way in the league, making his first All-Star Game in 2012. He did not miss another one until 2019, at which point he had already been traded to Boston. In his first two seasons with the Red Sox, he continued to contribute as an ace and was even close to securing the team’s World Series championship in 2018.

In 2019, a few months after signing a five-year extension, things fell apart quickly. Sale infamously started the season with five straight losses, repeatedly flirting with a double-digit ERA. By the time he found himself again, he had to end his season early due to elbow inflammation. He missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Over the next three seasons, Sale’s time with the Red Sox was interrupted or cut short by at least five separate setback, including recovery from Tommy John, a rib fracture, hand surgery, a biking accident and multiple positive tests for COVID-19. 

He wasn’t ineffective during this dreadfully unfortunate time, but his innings were so limited that he never had a chance to justify Boston’s investment in him. After the 2023 season, the team traded him to Atlanta for infielder Vaughn Grissom, a far cry from the four-player deal the team made to acquire him from Chicago in 2016.

“I was healthy earlier in my career, and I was able to sustain some success and stay out on the field,” Sale said. “Ran into a buzz saw over the past handful of years.”

Before the season, the Braves’ pitching rotation appeared to have a massive question mark in the middle of it. There was obvious potential, too. Max Fried and Spencer Strider were both N.L. Cy Young candidates, and if Sale could find some semblance of his old form, it stood to reason that the Braves would be surefire World Series contenders.

Of course, baseball is never so straightforward. Fried and Strider both went down with long-term injuries, and though they found other gems like rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, the Braves were relegated to Wild Card status. Sale suffered a minor setback late in the season, and the team made a quiet exit against the Padres in the Wild Card round.

But while the Braves season may not have gone to plan, Sale’s return to dominance cannot be understated. After toiling away in Boston for years, struggling to find any semblance of his old self, he washed out in Atlanta and arguably had the best year of his career. 

His command and delivery were overwhelming for National League batters, and in a shockingly far cry from prior seasons, he managed to sustain that elite form for 29 starts. He struck out 225 batters in 177.2 innings pitched, and his 2.38 ERA stands among some of the best seasons in recent MLB history.