One of two Box-Toppers season pitching leaders won their league’s 2024 Cy Young Award while the other fell just short.
Box-Toppers Cy Young Award ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ 2024 Cy Young ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) awards. The ballot requires votes out to five places for each leagues’ top pitcher.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2024.
| AL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | 21.1 |
| 2 | Luis Gil | Yankees | 17.4 |
| 3 | Bryce Miller | Mariners | 15.7 |
| 4 | George Kirby | Mariners | 15.4 |
| 5 | Framber Valdez | Astros | 15.4 |
| NL Cy Young | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | 21.4 |
| 2 | Dylan Cease | Padres | 21.1 |
| 3 | Shota Imanaga | Cubs | 20.7 |
| 4 | Chris Sale | Braves | 19.1 |
| 5 | Blake Snell | Giants | 15.7 |
Tarik Skubal of the Tigers, who led American League pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, won the AL Cy Young Award. However, Chris Sale of the Braves won the National League Cy Young Award ahead of Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, the overall season leader in Box-Toppers points.
Wheeler, who led all players with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, finished second in NL Cy Young voting. Sale, the NL winner, ranked fourth among NL pitchers with 19.1 Box-Toppers points.
A look at Box-Toppers’ Cy Young ballot.
A look at AL Cy Young voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
A look at NL Cy Young voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Votes are cast at the end of the regular season, before the start of the postseason, and were announced Wednesday.
AL Cy Young
Skubal was the unanimous winner, picking up all 30 first-place votes from baseball writers.
His 21.1 Box-Toppers points was first among AL pitchers and second among all players, behind Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler’s 21.4.
It is his first Cy Young Award in his best season. His previous best seasons were 2022 and 2023 with the Tigers when he earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points each season. He ranked 23rd among AL pitchers in 2022 and 19th among AL pitchers in 2023.
Skubal led all pitchers in wins (18) and strikeouts (228). He led AL pitchers in earned run average (2.39).
Skubal won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors 15 times during the regular season, including winning overall Player of the Day honors four times and earning AL Player of the Day honors three times. He earned 1.0 point for each Player of the Game honor, 1.0 bonus point for each Player of the Day and 0.7 bonus points for each AL Player of the Day honor. (He also won Player of the Game honors twice in the postseason, but no Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games, plus voting on awards happens before the playoffs begin.)
Skubal finished ahead of second-place AL pitcher, Luis Gil of the Yankees (17.4), who did not receive any Cy Young votes. Gil, who won 2024 AL Rookie of the Year earlier this week, got off to a hot start but struggled in the second half of the season, earning only 4.0 of his 17.4 points after June 4.
Among other players receiving votes for AL Cy Young, only two were among the top 10 AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points for 2024:
Seth Lugo of the Royals, who finished second in voting, earned 14.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, seventh among AL pitchers.
Framber Valdez of the Astros, who finished seventh in voting, earned 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, fifth among AL pitchers.
Finishing third in AL Cy Young voting was Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase, whose 4.0 Box-Toppers points was 70th among AL pitchers and eighth among AL closers. While Clase’s 47 saves led AL closers, he only earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in four of his saves—the other 43 times, other Guardians players were more key to the win, picking up Player of the Game honors.
NL Cy Young
Braves pitcher Chris Sale picked up 26 of the 30 first-place votes en route to winning the award.
Box-Toppers points leader for 2024, Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, picked up the other four first-place votes, finishing second.
Sale won the NL pitching Triple Crown in 2024 by leading in wins (18), earned run average (2.38) and strikeouts (225).
This is Sale’s first Cy Young Award, however, his 2024 Box-Toppers point total is his third-highest single-season total. Sale was 2017 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players with 25.1 Box-Toppers points when he was with the Red Sox, a season in which he was Box-Toppers’ pick for the AL Cy Young Award, ahead of winner Corey Kluber of Cleveland, whose 22.0 points was second among AL pitchers that season.
Sale also had 20.1 Box-Toppers points in 2018 with the Red Sox, fourth among AL pitchers. He finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting that season.
After recording seven straight seasons with 15.0 or more Box-Toppers points from 2012 to 2018, Sale slipped to 11.0 points in 2019 with the Red Sox, struggling with left shoulder inflammation in the second half of the season that put him on the injured list. He further struggled with injury, including undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020, recording no points in 2020, 2.0 in 2021 and 0.0 again in 2022 before rebounding to 8.7 in 2023. After being traded from the Red Sox to the Braves for 2024, Sale recorded his highest Box-Toppers point total since 2018. His 10.4-point gain from 2023 to 2024 is the 10th-largest among all non-rookie players.
Injuries down the stretch in 2024 also prevented Sale from starting after Sept. 19. Had he made two more starts, he could have had as many as 23.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, passing Wheeler’s 21.4 for the overall lead.
Paul Skenes of the Pirates, who was voted 2024 NL Rookie of the Year earlier this week, finished third in Cy Young voting, receiving one second-place vote. Skenes earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 10th among NL pitchers.
Sale was behind not only Wheeler, but two other NL pitchers, both of whom received NL Cy Young Award votes:
Dylan Cease of the Padres was second among NL pitchers with 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
Shota Imanaga of the Cubs was third among NL pitchers with 20.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting.
Seven of the 10 NL pitchers with the most Box-Toppers points in 2024 received votes, including Wheeler, Cease, Imanaga, Sale and Skenes. The others:
Sean Manaea of the Mets, sixth among NL pitchers with 15.4 Box-Toppers points, finished tied for 11th in voting.
Aaron Nola of the Phillies, eighth among NL pitchers with 13.4 Box-Toppers points, finished tied for 11th in voting.
The highest-ranked NL pitcher not to receive any Cy Young Award votes is Blake Snell of the Giants, whose 15.7 Box-Toppers points is fifth among NL pitchers. Snell won the NL Cy Young in 2023 with the Padres but was not among Box-Toppers’ top five NL pitchers that year with just 14.7 points (sixth among NL pitchers). This year, Snell received no NL Cy Young votes even though by Box-Toppers measures, he had a better season than 2023.
Skubal, Sale win in IBWAA Cy Young voting
Box-Toppers votes in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) Cy Young Awards voting, which also picked Skubal and Sale as top pitchers.
American League
1st Place: Tarik Skubal, Tigers—280 points
2nd Place: Seth Lugo, Royals—97 points
3rd Place: Cole Ragans, Royals—63 points
National League
1st Place: Chris Sale, Braves—258 points
2nd Place: Zack Wheeler, Phillies—146 points
3rd Place: Paul Skenes, Pirates—70 points
While both the BBWAA and IBWAA voters picked the same winner, there was one notable difference among the top three AL finishers. The official BBWAA voters had closer Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians in third place in AL Cy Young voting, while the unofficial IBWAA voters had Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans in that spot. Box-Toppers did not have Ragans among the top five players on its AL Cy Young ballot but he did finish 16th among AL pitchers with 12.0 Box-Toppers points while Clase was 70th among AL pitchers with 4.0 points.
IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.
About Box-Toppers
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Related
American League Cy Young Award voting
Tarik Skubal of the Tigers was voted 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner as the league’s top pitcher. He also ranked first among AL pitchers in 2024 Box-Toppers points (21.1). Below are the AL pitchers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2024 and their rank in points among AL pitchers.| AL pitcher | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | pi sp | 30 | 210 | 21.1 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Seth Lugo | Royals | pi sp | 14 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 93 | 14.1 | 7 | |
| 3 | Emmanuel Clase | Guardians | pi cp | 9 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 66 | 4.0 | 70 | |
| 4 | Cole Ragans | Royals | pi sp | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 48 | 12.0 | 16 | |
| 5 | Corbin Burnes | Orioles | pi sp | 3 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 47 | 11.7 | 18 | |
| 6 | Logan Gilbert | Mariners | pi sp | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 13.0 | 11 | |
| 7 | Framber Valdez | Astros | pi sp | 2 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 15.4 | 5 | ||
| 8 | Kirby Yates | Rangers | pi cp | 1 | 2 | 6.0 | 49 | ||||
| 9 | Yusei Kikuchi | Astros | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 10.7 | 22 | ||||
| 9 | Cade Smith | Guardians | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 120 |
National League Cy Young Award voting
Chris Sale of the Braves was voted 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner as the league’s top pitcher. He ranked fourth among NL pitchers in 2024 Box-Toppers points (19.1), behind leader Zack Wheeler of the Phillies (21.4). Below are the NL pitchers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2024 and their rank in points among NL pitchers.| NL pitcher | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Sale | Braves | pi sp | 26 | 4 | 198 | 19.1 | 4 | |||
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | pi sp | 4 | 25 | 1 | 130 | 21.4 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Paul Skenes | Pirates | pi sp | 1 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 53 | 13.0 | 10 | |
| 4 | Dylan Cease | Padres | pi sp | 6 | 8 | 11 | 45 | 21.1 | 2 | ||
| 5 | Shota Imanaga | Cubs | pi sp | 7 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 20.7 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Logan Webb | Giants | pi sp | 2 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 11.0 | 21 | ||
| 7 | Michael King | Padres | pi sp | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 12.7 | 12 | ||
| 8 | Hunter Greene | Reds | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9.7 | 29 | |||
| 9 | Ryan Helsley | Cardinals | pi cp | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12.0 | 16 | |||
| 10 | Cristopher Sánchez | Phillies | pi sp | 2 | 2 | 11.4 | 20 | ||||
| 11 | Reynaldo López | Braves | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 12.8 | 11 | ||||
| 11 | Sean Manaea | Mets | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 15.4 | 6 | ||||
| 11 | Aaron Nola | Phillies | pi sp | 1 | 1 | 13.4 | 8 |