Chris Sale’s comeback season with the Atlanta Braves, 10 months after being traded by the Boston Red Sox, came rewarded when the 35-year-old was named the 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner.
It’s the first time in Sale’s 14-year career that he took home the award, as 26-of-30 first-place votes put the southpaw over Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zach Wheeler. Sale went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA across 29 starts — the most logged by Sale since 2017 (32) — making him the NL’s leader in wins, strikeouts (225) and ERA. He joined Detroit Tigers right-hander Tarik Skrubal (18-4, 2.39 ERA), the American League’s Cy Young Award receipt, as the two highlighted hurlers of the past season.
Sale had to undergo a mountain climb to return to his dominant form after the 2018 World Series champion departed Boston in bittersweet fashion.
There was no bad blood between Sale and the Red Sox. He embraced the city — even attending a New England Patriots and Boston Celtics game this past week — and took full accountability for the split, striving to prove himself worth the five-year, $145 million contract signed in 2019.
“The biggest thing is health,” Sale said, per ESPN’s David Schoenfield. “I was healthy earlier in my career and I was able to sustain some success and stay out on the field. Ran into a buzzsaw 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.”
The final three-year stretch in Boston was the most daunting of Sale’s career. He made a combined 31 starts, suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament, a fractured rib and left shoulder inflammation which placed him on the 60-day injured list in 2023. It wasn’t a memorable send-off, but recording the final out against the Los Angeles Dodgers to capture Boston’s ninth title is enough for Red Sox fans to hold Sale in high regard.
Atlanta traded infielder Vaughn Grissom to Boston in acquiring Sale, giving the Red Sox a young future piece who didn’t have room to grow with the Braves. The new change of scenery proved to be just what Sale needed to flip a downward career trend into a resurgence of what Boston acquired back in 2017.
Sale’s victory makes him the first Braves pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since Tom Glavine in 1998.
