Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale won the National League Cy Young Award.
Sale, who led National League pitchers in victories (18-3 record), earned run average (2.38) and strikeouts (225), is the ninth “triple crown” winner in the league to capture the Cy Young Award. Sandy Koufax won the triple crown in all three of his Cy Young Award seasons (1963, ‘65, ‘66). The others were Steve Carlton (1972), Dwight Gooden (1985), Randy Johnson (2002), Jake Peavy (2007) and Clayton Kershaw (2011). There have been six such cases in the American League.
This marks the eighth time a Braves pitcher has won the Cy Young Award. Sale joins three-time winner Greg Maddux (1993-95), two-time winner Tom Glavine (1991, ‘98), John Smoltz (1996) and Warren Spahn (1957).
Sale’s previous highest finish in Cy Young Award voting was in 2018 in the AL when as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He was the runner-up to Cleveland’s Corey Kluber. Sale finished third in the AL in 2014 while with the Chicago White Sox in a race also won by Kluber.
This is the second runner-up finish in NL Cy Young Award voting for the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler, who also placed second to Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes in 2021.
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes finished third, the highest finish by a rookie since Jose Fernandez ran third to winner Clayton Kershaw and runner-up Adam Wainwright in 2013. Fernando Valenzuela, who died this year, was the only rookie to win the Cy Young Award, in 1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sale and Wheeler were the only pitchers named on every ballot.
Ballots were cast prior to postseason play. They are tabulated on a system that rewards seven points for first place, four points for second place, three points for third place, two votes for fourth place and one point for fifth place.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Sale, Braves | 26 | 4 | 198 | |||
| Zack Wheeler, Phillies | 4 | 25 | 1 | 130 | ||
| Paul Skenes, Pirates | 1 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 53 | |
| Dylan Cease, Padres | 6 | 8 | 11 | 45 | ||
| Shota Imanaga, Cubs | 7 | 8 | 1 | 38 | ||
| Logan Webb, Giants | 2 | 4 | 4 | 18 | ||
| Michael King, Padres | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | ||
| Hunter Greene, Reds | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Ryan Helsley, Cardinals | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Reynaldo López, Braves | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Sean Manaea, Mets | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Aaron Nola, Phillies | 1 | 1 |
Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the National League. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.
| Name | Affilation | Chapter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiley McDaniel | ESPN | ATL | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Cease | Imanaga |
| Mark Bowman | MLB.com | ATL | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | Imanaga | Webb |
| Theo Mackie | Arizona Republic | AZ | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Webb | Cease |
| David Brandt | The Associated Press | AZ | Sale | Skenes | Greene | Wheeler | Cease |
| Meghan Montemurro | The Chicago Tribune | CHI | Wheeler | Sale | Imanaga | Cease | Skenes |
| Eugene McIntosh | The Bigs Media | CHI | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Imanaga | Cease |
| Mark Sheldon | MLB.com | CIN | Sale | Wheeler | King | Skenes | Cease |
| Charlie Goldsmith | Cincinnati Enquirer | CIN | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | Webb | Skenes |
| Manny Randhawa | MLB.com | COL | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Cease | Sánchez |
| Kevin Henry | Just Baseball | COL | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Imanaga | Cease |
| Nobuhiro Saito | Nikkan Sports News | LA | Sale | Wheeler | Imanaga | King | Manaea |
| Bill Plunkett | SCNG/Orange County Register | LA | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Imanaga | Cease |
| Mari Montes | El Extrabase | MIA | Sale | Wheeler | Webb | Cease | Skenes |
| Santos Perez | Associated Press | MIA | Sale | Wheeler | Imanaga | Cease | Nola |
| Todd Rosiak | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | MIL | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | Imanaga | Skenes |
| Curt Hogg | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | MIL | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | Skenes | Helsley |
| Anthony DiComo | MLB.com | NY | Wheeler | Sale | Imanaga | King | Webb |
| Will Sammon | The Athletic | NY | Wheeler | Sale | Webb | Cease | Sánchez |
| Jayson Stark | The Athletic | PHI | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | King | Webb |
| Scott Lauber | The Philadelphia Inquirer | PHI | Wheeler | Sale | Imanaga | Skenes | Cease |
| Jason Mackey | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | PIT | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Webb | Cease |
| Will Graves | Associated Press | PIT | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Imanaga | King |
| Bernie Wilson | Associated Press | SD | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Cease | King |
| AJ Cassavell | MLB.com | SD | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Webb | King |
| Andrew Baggarly | The Athletic | SF | Sale | Wheeler | Imanaga | King | Cease |
| Maria Guardado | MLB.com | SF | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Cease | Webb |
| John Denton | MLB.com | STL | Sale | Wheeler | Imanaga | Helsley | Cease |
| Rob Rains | STLSportsPage.com | STL | Sale | Wheeler | Cease | Imanaga | Helsley |
| Tim Kurkjian | ESPN | WAS | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Imanaga | Cease |
| Brittany Ghiroli | The Athletic | WAS | Sale | Wheeler | Skenes | Greene | López |