Sale’s fourth Cy Young top-three finish comes with another NL bronze

Chris Sale added yet another strong showing to his Cy Young record, finishing third in 2026 National League voting. The award went unanimously to Brewers prospect Jacob Misiorowski, while the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez placed second.

In the final tally, Sale received 11 of the 30 second-place votes, 16 third-place votes, and three fourth-place votes. It marked his fourth top-three finish and the 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner has finished in the top six nine times dating back to 2012.

Sale’s 2026 statistical profile helped drive his third-place finish. He ranked second in the National League in ERA (2.16), third in WHIP (0.98), fourth in strikeouts (200), and sixth in batting average allowed (.215).

Over a 27-start season, Sale produced 19 quality starts for a 70.4% quality-start rate. The only pitcher with a higher percentage over at least 20 starts was Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, at 78.6% (22 of 28).

The year also included clear peaks and troughs, with Sale allowing six runs over four-plus innings in his third start against the Angels on April 12. After that, he posted a 1.96 ERA across the 24 starts that followed, capped by his best outing of the season on Aug. 27: a five-hit shutout of the Dodgers in which he struck out 11.