The results of the 2025 Cy Young Award winners were announced on Wednesday night, and neither winner was much of a surprise: Tarik Skubal of the Tigers took home the American League honors, while the Pirates’
Paul Skenes (perhaps on his way out of town?) captured the National League’s award. While Skenes was a unanimous choice, earning all 30 first place votes, it was somewhat surprising that every ballot had the same name in second place: Phillies’ lefthanded starter Cristopher Sanchez.
While nobody predicted a second place Cy Young finish, Sanchez didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. He was an All-Star in 2024 and finished in tenth place in Cy Young voting that season. And in Spring Training, Sanchez had notably added some velocity to his fastball which some people speculated might allow him to take another step forward.
He had a slight injury scare in April when he had to leave a start after two innings with forearm soreness. While he didn’t miss any time, his control seemed to be slightly affected in his next few starts. But he soon put that behind him and was dominant the remainder of the season, even if that domination wasn’t enough for him to be named to the NL’s All-Star Team.
With Zack Wheeler out with an injury, Sanchez took over the mantle of staff ace and handled it well. He was 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA in September and was named the starter for game one of the NLDS. Even though the team lost both of his starts, it’s hard to lay much blame on Sanchez who allowed just three runs in 12 innings.
Not to say that Skenes isn’t a deserving winner, but there is an argument to be made that Sanchez had a better year. Sanchez had a higher WAR (NL leading 8.0), pitched 15 more innings and won three more games. (I know, I know, just putting it out there.) Perhaps more important, is the amount of pressure that each pitcher faced in his starts.
Much was made about Skenes receiving a lack of run support and losing a lot of games as a result. But he was also toiling away for a last place team. If he had a poor performance, oh well, it’s just another loss for a last place team. On the other hand, Sanchez was the ace of a 96-win division winner, so every start held some importance.
Regardless, it was nice to see Sanchez’s excellent season recognized by the voters. And the best news is, he’s about to turn 29 with five more years of team control, so the Phillies should be able to enjoy his excellence for years to come.
