The Major League Baseball awards have now been completed after the winners of the National and American League Most Valuable Players were announced on Thursday.
Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves took home the NL Cy Young Award while Tarik Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award.
According to MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM on ‘X,’ opposing batters hit just .159 with zero home runs against Sale’s changeup in 2024.
Braves special assistant Tyler Flowers gave his thoughts on Sale’s changeup.
“The re-introduction of Chris Sale’s changeup brings another element back into play,” Flowers said.
Opposing batters hit just .159 with ZERO home runs against Chris Sale’s changeup in 2024.#Braves | @Braves
🔗 https://t.co/fGPbvbjGlC pic.twitter.com/LNAvhDnrIB— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 22, 2024
Flowers not only mentions how dominating Sale’s changeup was this season, but he also believes that it helped him with his durability issues.
When Sale was playing for the Boston Red Sox, he was using his slider a lot more often, which Flowers thinks contributed to his injury issues.
2024 was Sale’s first season with the Braves and he started 29 games with a record of 18 wins and three losses with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings pitched.
Sale had a career-high in wins and his most strikeouts since the 2017 season when he had 308 with the Red Sox.
After winning his first Cy Young Award of his career, it will be interesting to see how Sale performs next season if he indeed does play another year.
The Braves will hope to see their newly acquired ace starting pitcher back on the mound next season.
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Chris Sale Reveals What Plans Were Prior To Trade To Braves
