Atlanta Braves Lefty Set to Win Cy Young Award and Do Something Not Seen in 111 Years of History

Chris Sale has had a historic bounceback year on the mound.

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park on Sept 19. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Not only is Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale going to win the National League Cy Young Award, he's also making baseball history in an incredible 2024 season.

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on Sunday:

Just how great of a season is Chris Sale having for Atlanta en route to his unanimous NL Cy Young award? He not only leads MLB in wins, ERA and strikeouts, but hasn’t permitted more than two earned runs in any his last 18 starts, dating back to June 7.

It’s the longest single season stretch by a full-time starter since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913.

Sale was dealt from the Boston Red Sox to the Braves in the offseason for infielder Vaughn Grissom and that's looking like one of the best moves of any team in baseball in the last calendar year.

The 35-year-old Sale is a whopping 18-3 this season with a 2.38 ERA. He's struck out 225 batters in just 177.1 innings. Furthermore, he's kept the Braves rotation afloat in the wake of a season-ending injury to Spencer Strider. Atlanta enters play on Sunday at 84-71. They are 2.0 games back of the New York Mets for the third and final wild card spot in the National League.

In his 14th season with the Chicago White Sox, Red Sox and Braves, Sale is 138-83. He's got an ERA of 3.04 lifetime and is an eight-time All-Star.

He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and has five top-five finishes in the Cy Young voting.

Now, he'll get his first win.

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