Baseball's Best Pitchers, 2024

As it turns out, Manager of the Year voting wasn't actually that close.  Both Stepen Vogt and Pat Murphy got 27 of the 30 votes.  It wasn't unanimous, but it was close.  The unanimous votes are coming over the next two days for both Cy Youngs and both MVPs.  There's no reason to act like there's any suspense heading into the announcement.  Tarik Skubal will win in the AL and Chris Sale will win in the NL.

Which isn't to say the other four finalists aren't deserving.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I think they nailed it with the top three in both leagues.  I especially love the fact that Emmanuel Clase's lights-out season was recognized with a well-earned top three finish.  Closers don't often get the Cy Young love.  Mariano Rivera finished second one and third three times, but never came close to winning.  No closer has since Eric Gagne for his exceptional 2003 campaign.  Clase didn't either, but he's the first closer in 16 years to even be a finalist.

Paul Skenes, meanwhile, came close to doing something that hasn't been done since the incomparable Fernando Valenzuela in 1981--win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in the same season.  This guy was the No. 1 overall pick in 2023!  He was in the Majors less than a year later.  And he was one of the best starting pitchers not just in the National League but in the freakin' Majors!  Skenes will win a Cy Young one day, likely fairly soon.

Like Skenes, Zack Wheeler was a workhorse.  He made 32 starts and was one of just four pitchers in the Majors to hit the 200-inning mark.  Wheeler finished 16-7 and was second in the Majors in batting average against (.192), third in WHIP (0.96) and tied for third in strikeouts (224).  In many ways, you could argue that his numbers were better than Sale's.  Plus, the Phillies won the division, with Wheeler pitching like the ace he is.

Seth Lugo is probably the most unlikely of the six names announced as finalists.  That's what happens when you have a career year at age 34.  This is a guy who bounced between the rotation and the bullpen for both the Mets and the Rays.  In Kansas City, he finally got the chance to be a full-time starter, and boy did he deliver!  Lugo went 16-9 and threw more than 200 innings for a playoff team.  He always knew he could be a reliable Major League starter.  And he was right.

Lugo was part of a 1-2 punch for the Royals.  His partner in crime, Cole Ragans, likely appeared on plenty of ballots in the fourth- or fifth-place spots.  Ragans was second in the American League in strikeouts and sixth in batting average against.  He also made the All*Star team and, just as importantly for Kansas City, started 32 games for the Royals.

Last season, the one thing the Orioles knew they needed was an ace.  So, towards the end of Spring Training, they went out and got one.  Corbin Burnes proved to be exactly what they needed.  A front-line starter who'd take his turn every five days and give them effective innings.  He made 32 starts and pitched to a 15-9 record with a 2.92 ERA (fourth in the AL).

There are also three pitchers in the AL West whose names wouldn't shock me if they appeared on some ballots.  Houston's Ronel Blanco threw just 167.1 innings, but he led the AL in batting average against (.190) and was second in ERA (2.80).  His teammate Framber Valdez was third in ERA (2.91) and proved to be one of the only constants in that Astros rotation.  Seattle's Logan Gilbert, meanwhile, went just 9-12, which likely knocked him out of consideration in a lot of voters' minds (I know that I wouldn't vote for somebody whose record is under .500).  If not for that, though, he'd be in the conversation after ranking among the AL leaders in strikeouts, WHIP and batting average against.

In the National League, I wouldn't be surprised if Skenes wasn't the only rookie who got Cy Young votes.  Because Shota Imanaga (who was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting) was sensational in his first season with the Cubs.  He went 15-3 and was third in both ERA (2.91) and WHIP (1.02).  Had the Cubs finished higher in the standings, Imanaga would be a much bigger part of the conversation.

When the Yankees and Padres were first discussing the Juan Soto trade, it almost completely blew up because of Michael King.  San Diego really wanted him as the key piece in return.  The Yankees didn't want to give him up.  They eventually realized that it would be stupid to torpedo the deal because of Michael King, so they relented and included the guy the Padres wanted.  He showed why they wanted him so badly.  In his first full season as a Major League starter, King was 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts.  He, Sale and Wheeler were the only National League pitchers with 200 K's and a sub-3.00 ERA this season.

And, I know Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley was First Team All-MLB, but I don't even think he was the best reliever in the National League.  I think the Braves' Raisel Iglesias was.  Iglesias had an ERA of 1.95, a WHIP of 0.74 and a batting average against of 1.95.  He went 6-2 as a closer and had 34 saves.  He was only Atlanta's second-best pitcher, though.

Chris Sale wasn't just the best pitcher on the Braves, he was the best pitcher in the National League.  He was also the NL Comeback Player of the Year after all those lost seasons in Boston.  Believe it or not, even when he had all those great years with the White Sox, he's never won the Cy Young.  That'll change for the 35-year-old, who won a Gold Glove to go along with his pitching Triple Crown.

Whether Sale wins his Cy Young unanimously is really the only question.  For Tarik Skubal, it's not.  It would be shocking if his victory wasn't unanimous.  Skubal was THAT much better than the other pitchers in the American League this season.  The dude was the Tigers' pitching staff!  He led the Majors in strikeouts, tied for the Major League lead in wins, and trailed Sale in ERA by 0.01.  They seriously both could've won the Major League pitching Triple Crown!

So, it's pretty obvious who I'm giving the nod in each league.  It's positions 2-5 where the jockeying starts.  For what it's worth, behind Sale in the National League, I've got: 2. Wheeler, 3. Skenes, 4. King, 5. Imanaga.  And in the American League, behind Skubal it's: 2. Clase, 3. Lugo, 4.  Burnes, 5. Blanco.