Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale has caught the attention of fans

Chris Sale continues his winning streak with the Atlanta Braves, winning the National League Cy Young Award midseason in a fan vote conducted by MLB on Fox.

This is a clear sign of Sale’s resurrection season. Not only has he become a good pitcher again, he also dominates on the mound.

Prove doubters wrong

The Braves acquired Sale during the offseason just before the new year in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom. So far, it looked like this trade would go in Atanta’s favor.

In 23 games with the Red Sox, Grissom has a batting average of .148 and an OPS+ of 5. No typo. That’s actually single digits.

Sale now leads the league in wins (13), ERA+ (154) and FIP 2.24 in 18 starts. Depending on the day, when Reynaldo Lopez qualifies, for example, Sale is either second in the National League in ERA or the leader.

Although they don’t lead the league, Sale also stands out with 140 strikeouts in 110 innings pitched and a WHIP of 0.955.

This season, Sale received his first All-Star nomination since 2018 and his eighth overall. A longtime name in the sport is back and fans have paid tribute.

His chances for the actual Cy Young

As crazy as it may sound, Sale has never won the Cy Young. He has come close a few times. In the seven consecutive seasons that Sale was an All-Star from 2012 to 2018, Sale received Cy Young votes in every season. However, he was only a finalist (top three) twice. He finished third in 2014 and second in 2017Both times he was beaten for the award by Corey Kluber.

This could be his chance to take home the award as the best pitcher in his respective league.

One of his biggest competitors for the award is his own teammate Lopez. He is the only starter among qualifiers in both leagues, if he qualifies, with an ERA under 2.00. Lopez’s other stats (1.17 WHIP, .225 opp. average), however, could cost him first-place votes.

His other top competition is Phillies starters Zach Wheeler and Ranger Suarez. Wheeler has an identical ERA to Sale, as well as an even better .192 opponent average and 0.99 WHIP. He has pitched more innings (116 2/3). Even after some rocky starts, Suarez has a 2.76 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and .219 opponent average in 114 innings pitched.

Three of the names mentioned currently have the best chance of being considered as finalists for the award – provided that another player suddenly takes the lead in the second half of the year.

The bottom line is that the competition is tough, but if Sale wants to finally win its first hardware title, then this is the year to do it.