Phillies Zack Wheeler Places 2nd In NL Cy Young Award

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Phillies ace Zack Wheeler placed second in the 2024 National League Cy Young award, falling just short of becoming the first Phillies pitcher since Roy Halladay in 2010 to earn the prestigious award.

Wheeler was edged out by the favorite, Atlanta Braves veteran ace Chris Sale, as well as Pittsburgh Pirates star fireballer Paul Skenes, for the honor.

Wheeler once again put up an incredibly dominant performance in 2024, throwing 200 innings with a 2.57 earned run average, 224 strikeouts, and a major-league best 0.955 walks/hits per innings pitched.

Voters valued Wheeler's old-style endurance, as its rare for pitchers of his caliber in the modern era to pitch so deep into games, so frequently. So while Sale and even Skenes bested him by certain metrics like earned run average, Wheeler created as much, if not more value by his ability to pitch so many innings.

Wheeler was also a Cy Young finalist in 2021, when he lost a very narrow vote to Corbin Burnes. He finished sixth in 2023.

Wheeler, still in his prime and showing no signs of slowing down, can still join a very select club of Phillies hurlers who have become Cy Youngs in the years to come. Hall of Famer Steve Carlton won an absurd four times: 1972, 1977, 1980, and 1982. John Denny won in 1983 and reliever Steve Bedrosian in 1987, but Halladay in 2010 has been the only Phillies winner since.