The Braves earned a ton of hardware last offseason, with Ronald Acuna Jr. leading the way with MVP honors. That won’t be the case this year, but Braves Country can hang their hats on Chris Sale’s 2024 campaign.
The wiley veteran turned in the best season of his career and was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disastrous season in Atlanta. He was the rotation’s ace and earned Triple Crown honors for the first time in the National League since Clayton Kershaw did it more than a decade ago.
He’ll soon be named Cy Young for the first time in his career, among a slew of other awards. Sporting News has already named him the NL Comeback Player of the Year, and the MLBPA has just announced a couple more honors: NL Comeback Player and Outstanding Pitcher.
Congratulations to Chris Sale for being named the @MLBPA Players Choice Awards NL Comeback Player and NL Outstanding Pitcher for 2024! pic.twitter.com/1ztKZu4DO7
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 26, 2024
Sale finished with an 18-3 record, 2.38 ERA, and 225 strikeouts across 29 starts, leading the NL in ERA+ (174), FIP (2.09), home runs per nine innings (0.5) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.4) en route to his eighth All-Star bid, along with the Triple Crown.
He was the best version of himself for the Braves this year, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The club was without Spencer Strider for essentially the entire season, and Sale stepped up in his absence.
The Braves have Chris Sale under contract for a couple more seasons too.
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David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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