Zack Wheeler has been as dominant as any pitcher in the major leagues since he signed with Philadelphia before the 2020 season. But for the second time in his Phillies career, the ace just missed out on the hardware to show for it.
Wheeler finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting this season behind Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced on Wednesday night. It’s the right-hander’s second career runner-up finish for the award given annually to each league’s top pitcher.
Wheeler received four first-place votes for a total of 130 voting points. Sale had 26 first-place votes for a total of 198 points.
Pirates righty Paul Skenes, the NL Rookie of the Year, finished in third place with 53 points.
Wheeler had a 2.57 ERA across 32 starts this year, leading the NL in WHIP at 0.955 and hits per nine innings at 6.3. The 34-year-old was an All-Star for the second time in his career and continued his run as perhaps the top workhorse in the majors; he tossed 200 innings, second most in the NL, compared to Sale’s 177 2/3.
Sale did not have quite the same volume as Wheeler, but he was utterly electric in a bounce-back year, his first in Atlanta. He captured the NL Triple Crown with 18 wins, 225 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA, also leading the majors in FIP (2.09), ERA+ (174), home runs per nine (0.5) and strikeouts per nine (11.4).
Wheeler previously finished in second for the NL Cy Young in 2021 when Corbin Burnes, then of the Milwaukee Brewers, won the award. Wheeler led the NL in strikeouts and the majors in innings, complete games and shutouts that season, but he still narrowly lost to Burnes, who claimed the ERA title in 46 2/3 fewer innings.
With Wheeler finishing in second again, no Phillies pitcher has won the Cy Young since Roy Halladay in 2010. Steve Bedrosian (1987), John Denny (1983) and Steve Carlton (1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982) are the only other pitchers to win the award with the team.
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