Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal received a great 28th birthday gift: the American League Cy Young award.
The pitcher who was awarded the National League Cy Young, Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, is slightly older at 35, becoming the fifth-eldest first-time winner in MLB history.
Age is clearly just a number. Both won pitching's Triple Crown in their respective leagues this season and were rewarded for their performances on Wednesday with some hardware from Major League Baseball.
Skubal, who turned 28 on the day the award winner was announced, easily topped fellow finalists Emmanuel Clase, the closer for the Cleveland Guardians, and Seth Lugo, starter for the Kansas City Royals, as the unanimous winner.
The left-hand starter went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts, leading the AL in all three categories to take pitching's Triple Crown during his breakout season.
Congratulations to 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of the @Tigers! pic.twitter.com/QXgOlc0gmb
— MLB (@MLB) November 20, 2024
He helped the Tigers to their first winning season since 2016 and first playoff series victory since 2013, going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three postseason starts. The team went 21-10 when Skubal started and just 65-66 in other games.
Skubal received all 30 first-place votes for a total of 210 points. He becomes the first member of the Tigers to win the award since Max Scherzer in 2013.
Lugo, who in his ninth MLB season and first with the Royals won a career-best 16 games and had a 3.00 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, finished second with 14 second-place votes and 93 points. Clase, who had an AL-leading 47 saves and a 0.61 ERA to become the first reliever to be named a finalist since Francisco Rodriguez in 2008, received nine second-place votes and placed third with 66 points.
It was a closer race in the NL, where Sale edged Philadelphia Phillies' perennial Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler and Pittsburgh Pirates' NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
The rejuvenated Sale, in his 14th season, returned to Cy Young form by going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts, becoming the first NL pitcher to lead in each category since Los Angeles Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw in 2011.
Your 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner is Chris Sale of the @Braves! pic.twitter.com/fBKCrFj3fu
— MLB (@MLB) November 20, 2024
Sale, an eight-time All-Star, finished among the top six in AL Cy Young award voting for seven consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2018, with a runner-up finish in 2017 while with the Boston Red Sox. He finally claimed the award on Wednesday after years of injury-plagued seasons, throwing just 151 innings between 2020 and 2023 for the Red Sox.
Sale is the first Braves pitcher to win the NL Cy Young award since Tom Glavine in 1998. He received 26 first-place votes and had a total of 198 points.
Wheeler, who had a career-best 2.57 ERA and led the NL with a 0.96 WHIP, finished second in voting with four first-place votes and 130 points. Skenes, who went 11-3 and led the league with a 1.96 ERA after making his MLB debut on May 11, placed third with 53 points.
