Philly Leader

Zack Wheeler's ambition to win the NL Cy Young Award was not fulfilled this year as he finished second once again. The announcement came from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday night via MLB Network. Chris Sale, a left-hander from the Braves, won the award, securing 26 out of 30 first-place votes and totaling 198 points. Wheeler received four first-place votes and 25 second-place votes, accumulating 130 points.

Both Sale and Wheeler appeared on every ballot in this year's voting process. This marks the second time in four years that Wheeler has been runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award. In 2021, he narrowly lost to Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes in what was noted as the closest vote since expanding from three to five pitchers in 2010.

Despite finishing second, Wheeler showcased a strong performance throughout the regular season with a record of 16-7 over 200 innings pitched. His statistics included a 2.57 ERA, 224 strikeouts, and a WAR of 6.1 according to Baseball Reference. Among National League pitchers, he led in WHIP (0.96), opponents' batting average (.192), and several other categories.

Wheeler trailed Sale by only 0.1 bWAR but ranked second behind him with an fWAR of 5.4 compared to Sale's leading figure of 6.4 fWAR.

Sale did not participate in games during the final two weeks due to injury but maintained leading stats with wins (18), ERA (2.38), and strikeouts (225). His performance earned him recognition as one of nine "Triple Crown" winners who have claimed the NL Cy Young title.

Throughout his career with the Phillies, Wheeler has consistently been recognized for his contributions, earning top-six finishes for NL Cy Young three times over five seasons and receiving at least one vote in four out of those five seasons.

Additionally, Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez secured two fifth-place votes ending up tenth overall while right-hander Aaron Nola garnered one fifth-place vote tying for eleventh place.