Philadelphia Phillies' Zack Wheeler finishes as runner-up for NL Cy Young Award behind Chris Sale
Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler finished second in voting for the NL Cy Young Award, which was won by Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.
Wheeler is still looking for his first Cy Young trophy. Sale edged Wheeler, 198-130, in the voting. Sale got 26 first place votes, while Wheeler got four.
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes, who was named NL Rookie of the Year earlier this week, finished third.
Wednesday night's results mark the second time Wheeler has finished as the runner-up for the award. In 2021, Wheeler finished second in NL Cy Young voting but lost to then-Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes.
The Phillies' season ended short in the playoffs in the NLDS to the New York Mets, but Wheeler finished 2024 by posting some of the best numbers of his career at 34 years old.
In 32 regular season games, Wheeler went 16-7 in 2024 and recorded a career-best 2.57 ERA, which ranked second in the NL only behind Sale.
Wheeler ranked first in the NL with a 0.96 WHIP and made his second-career All-Star game. He also struck out 224 batters, which ranked second in the NL behind Sale. The 224 strikeouts in 2024 were the second-most Wheeler has recorded in a season in his 10-year career. He had 247 in 2021, where he was also named a Cy Young finalist.
The Phillies haven't had a pitcher win the Cy Young Award since Roy Halladay in 2010.
