Zack Wheeler Passed Over for NL Cy Young

Zack Wheeler is one of the best active MLB pitchers without a Cy Young award. He may be the best. 

And he'll remain so for at least another year.

On Wednesday, the Baseball Writers' Association of America awarded the 2024 NL Cy Young to Atlanta's Chris Sale. Wheeler finished second, which was not a surprise. Most observers expected Sale to take home the hardware, and he was certainly deserving.

Sale's 2024 statistics: 18-3, 177.2 IP, 2.38 ERA, 2.09 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 225 K, 39 BB, 6.2 bWAR.

© Brett Davis | 2024 Sep 3Wheeler's stats rivaled Sale's in most categories: 16-7, 200 IP, 2.57 ERA, 3.13 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 224 K, 52 BB, 6.1 bWAR.

The case for the Phillies' ace to win the award hinged on his 200 innings pitched and his incredibly low WHIP ((Walks + Hits) / Innings Pitched), which many believe is the best single statistic to gauge a pitcher's effectiveness.

But Sale impressed voters with stats like FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), which relies on strikeouts / walks / home runs allowed, and narrowly bested Wheeler in more traditional categories such as wins and ERA. Sale was the first NL pitcher to win the triple crown (Wins/ERA/Strikeouts) since Clayton Kershaw in 2011. The Indians' Shane Beiber won the most recent AL triple crown in the covid-shortened 2020 season.

Pittsburgh's rookie phenom Paul Skenes was also a finalist for the NL Cy Young this season. He finished third in voting. Skenes pitched just 133 major league innings, but his stats were incredible: 11-3, 1.96 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, 170 K, 32 BB, 5.9 bWAR. 

Skenes did win the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year award. Not a bad consolation prize.

© Brad Penner | 2024 Sep 28

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Here's the full NL Cy Young Award voting breakdown. Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola got some down-ballot support. @OnPattison pic.twitter.com/8pMjeV3XYc

— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) November 20, 2024

Even if Wheeler never wins a Cy Young, his teammates recognize his value:

Bryce Harper on Zack Wheeler:

"He's the Cy Young. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care what the numbers look like. He's the Cy Young. He's the best in baseball, man" pic.twitter.com/AddCiRmjk1

— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) September 18, 2024

Major League Baseball also announced Wednesday that Detroit's Tarik Skubal won the 2024 AL Cy Young.