Phillies ace Zack Wheeler finished second in NL Cy Young voting, the Baseball Writers' Association of America's results revealed Wednesday night.
Atlanta's Chris Sale, who posted league-leading numbers in a resurgent 2024, took home the award.
Wheeler received four first-place votes to Sale's 26, and 25 second-place votes.
Wheeler was dominant for the Phillies this past season, posting a 16-7 record with a 2.57 ERA, 224 total strikeouts at a clip of 10.08 Ks per nine innings, and a minuscule 0.96 WHIP.
The 34-year old righthander pitched 200 innings across 32 starts and led the National League in quality starts with 26.
In a season when the Phillies had a strong rotation headlined by Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, and breakout star Cristopher Sánchez, Wheeler was at the top of all of it, and about as automatic as you could get when it was his turn on the bump every fifth day.
"He's the Cy Young. It's not even a question now," Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper told the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast after Wheeler threw seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball in a September 17 win over the Brewers. "Just the way he's kind of thrown, the way he's been doing it all year long, he deserves it.
"He deserved it three years ago, too, and they robbed him of it, so he deserves it this year, no doubt."
But the baseball writers thought differently.
Sale had been on a downswing for years due to various injuries, but was able to find himself again after a trade from the Red Sox to the Braves last winter.
The 35-year old lefthander made it through 29 starts and pitched 177.2 innings, leading the NL in wins (an 18-3 record), strikeouts (225), ERA (2.38), ERA+ (174), and FIP (2.09) before a back issue cut his year short at the end in mid-September.
Still, it was a remarkable turnaround, one that helped the Braves at least salvage a Wild Card appearance in an injury-riddled season, and one that put together a convincing enough case for Sale to win the Cy Young.
That can hardly discredit what was an incredible season for Wheeler though.
How the two compared in 2024:
| Wheeler | Stat | Sale |
| 16-7 | W-L | 18-3 |
| 32 | GS | 29 |
| 200.0 | IP | 177.2 |
| 26 | QS | 18 |
| 2.57 | ERA | 2.38 |
| 0.96 | WHIP | 1.01 |
| .192 | AVG | .216 |
| 224 | SO | 225 |
| 10.08 | SO/9 | 11.40 |
| 158 | ERA+ | 174 |
| 3.13 | FIP | 2.09 |
This is also Wheeler's second time making a second-place finish in the NL Cy Young voting, after he previously lost out on the award to Corbin Burnes in 2021 back when the righthander was still with the Brewers.
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