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Southpaws Tarik Skubal, Chris Sale Combine to Make Cy Young History

By winning AL and NL Cy Young in the same year, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves veteran Chris Sale joined an exclusive list of left-handed pitchers who won the awards side-by-side.

Sam Connon

Sep 8, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches the ball against Toronto Blue Jays during second inning at Truist Park.
Sep 8, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches the ball against Toronto Blue Jays during second inning at Truist Park. / Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
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In case there was any doubt, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal and Atlanta Braves veteran Chris Sale reeled in their final hardware of the season Wednesday night.

The pair of lefties pitchers had already made the All-Star Game, as well as the All-MLB First Team. Then, Skubal was unanimously voted AL Cy Young, while Sale earned 2 of the 30 first-place votes for NL Cy Young.

This marks just the third time in MLB history that both Cy Young Awards were won by a left-handed pitcher in a single year.

Randy Johnson and Barry Zito were the last to achieve the feat, doing so in 2002. Before them, the only other lefty duo to win Cy Youngs side-by-side was Steve Carlton and Sparky Lyle in 1977.

The first Cy Young Award was given out in 1955. It was initially given to the single best pitcher in all of MLB, until the AL and NL versions of the honor began in 1967.

And in all that time, Skubal and Sale's aligned dominance has hardly been matched.

Skubal won the pitching Triple Crown in the AL, going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 208 strikeouts. Sale won the NL pitching Triple Crown with his 18-3 record, 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts.

Before 2024, there had only been one instance of overlapping pitching Triple Crowns since 1924. Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw did so in 2011, both en route to Cy Young honors that year as well.

Skubal finished his breakout year season a 6.3 WAR, while Sale posted a 6.2 WAR in his first year since getting dealt away by the Boston Red Sox.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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