Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale finished 3rd in 2026 National League Cy Young voting behind Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who won the award unanimously, and Cristopher Sanchez, who finished ahead of Sale by exactly one vote.
Full results are here:
Sale experienced another fantastic season with the Braves in 2026 across 27 starts. Atlanta gave Sale extra rest at nearly every turn possible, and it worked out well, as the 37-year-old
future Hall of Famer posted a 2.16 ERA, 2.29 FIP and 2.82 xFIP in 162.2 innings.
In years where Sale made upwards of 20 starts, his spectacular 2.16 ERA was the second-best mark of his career, trailing only his 2018 season in Boston. He struck out 200 hitters for the ninth time in his career and only walked 31, giving him the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the Majors this past season (trailing only Misiorowski). Among qualified starters, Sale’s ERA ranked 7th in MLB, his FIP ranked 2nd and his xFIP ranked 3rd.
What more can you say about Sale at this point? An unexpected trade nearly three years ago has worked out better than anyone could have ever dreamed. Shout out to Vaughn Grissom and the Boston Red Sox.
In the American League, young Yankees righty Cam Schlittler took home the award unanimously with every first place vote, beating out Dylan Cease and Parker Messick.
