As the Atlanta Braves finish their most disappointing season in nearly a decade, All-Star ace Chris Sale is left to wonder what might have been.
Sale’s thoughts should go far beyond the Braves making the postseason rather than owning a 62-76 record on Sept. 2. Although Sale has tuned in another impressive year following last year’s Cy Young victory, he unfortunately missed over two months with a rib injury.
Sale threw six innings of three-hit, one-run ball in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend. The nine-time All-Star struck out nine and only walked one over 78 pitches, continuing another dominant season — albeit an injury-marred one which also cost the 36-year-old Sale a second straight Cy Young.
“I enjoy being out there,” Sale said Saturday. “To get it taken away, you miss it a little bit. So when you get back out there, you want to lock in, pick up the slack when your team needs it.”
Could a healthy Chris Sale have realistically won the Cy Young again?
Whether or not you believe a healthy Chris Sale could have realistically won the Cy Young Award depends on what we’ll call “Paul Skenes bias.” Considering Skenes’ continued dominance on a Pirates team hoping to avoid another 90-loss season, some voters may have felt compelled to choose Skenes even if Sale theoretically had slightly better numbers.
Chris Sale, K'ing the Side in the 4th.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 30, 2025
8Ks thru 4. pic.twitter.com/Ezu8iIY2Bi
We also won’t rule out the possibility that at least one or two voters might have voted for Skenes solely to make a point about win-loss totals. Skenes entered play Tuesday at 9-9 with a sparkling 2.05 ERA and a 187-38 K-BB ratio in 167 innings, and it’s not at all unrealistic that he could win the Cy Young Award with a losing record. No starting pitcher has ever accomplished such a feat, though Skenes and his 6.3 bWAR certainly warrant making history.
If we operate under the idea that most of the 30 voters would have been objective, then Sale definitely would have had a legitimate case to win the Cy Young Award. His 2.45 ERA and 11.6 strikeout per nine ratio are right in line with last season’s, though his walks per nine have shot from 2.0 to 2.5.
Atlanta’s 62-76 record shouldn’t mean much here, even if they do somehow finish worse than the 61-77 Pirates. Plenty of pitchers have won the Cy Young on losing teams. Heck, Miami Marlins veteran Sandy Alcantara captured the 2022 NL Cy Young Award for a 93-loss Marlins team.
However, we personally feel that Skenes would have won the award anyway. Voters love Skenes, and he’s truly graduated into one of the league’s top-tier starting pitchers — and we’re sure plenty would argue he ranks among the sport’s top five arms. As for Sale, we’re confident that he’ll come roaring back next year and set us up for one more Skenes-Sale Cy Young battle.