Chris Sale’s path to first ever Cy Young just became easier with injury update to competitor

The 2024 NL Cy Young race is the only major award race (MVP and Cy Young) that's competitive at this point in the season. While Bobby Witt has a chance to chase Aaron Judge down for the AL MVP, it's going to be Judge's award. The same can be said for Ohtani with the NL MVP. Tarik Skubal should bring home the AL Cy Young in a clear decision too.

The NL Cy Young, on the other hand, is a competitive race. Chris Sale, Paul Skenes, Zack Wheeler and Hunter Greene all have arguments to bring home the award. As of now, Sale is the favorite, followed by Wheeler and then Skenes and Greene.

But all four pitchers have been incredible. If they can continue on their hot stretches, anybody could take home this award.

That is if they can stay healthy.

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Sale's path to first career Cy Young becoming clearer by the day

Sale's path to the Cy Young just got a little bit clearer. The Cincinnati Reds' ace, Hunter Greene, has landed on the injured list with right elbow soreness. Greene has a history of elbow injuries including a previous Tommy John surgery that he's since returned from flawlessly.

Landing on the IL is not ideal for Greene, or the Reds as Cincinnati looks to push for a postseason berth over the last couple of months of the season. On a personal level, if this IL stint causes him to miss more than one start, it would practically eliminate Greene from the Cy Young race.

Greene is still a very talented starter that has quite the bright future ahead of him. This won't be the last season where he's in a race for the award.

Sale, one of the top pitchers of this generation, has never won the award in his impressive career. Now, his path to his first Cy Young award is a bit clearer and easier as one of the top four candidates has fallen back in the race.

There is also growing speculation that the Pittsburgh Pirates could shut down their ace, Paul Skenes, due to the amount of innings he's thrown. The Pirates are basically out of playoff contention so throwing Skenes for too much longer provides more risk than reward. If Skenes is shut down, it would turn the Cy Young race into a two-horse race between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves aces.