Sep 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) looks on against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro
Zack Wheeler was once again excellent across seven innings in Tuesday's Phillies win, limiting the Milwaukee Brewers to just four hits and one run while striking out six.
After the game, Bryce Harper — who hit a key two-run home run in the sixth inning of the 5-1 victory — joined Tom McCarthy and Ben Davis on NBC Sports Philadelphia. When asked about the dominance of Wheeler's season, Harper endorsed his long-time teammate for the NL Cy Young Award.
"Yeah, I mean he's Cy Young," Harper said of Wheeler. "I mean, it's not even a question now. Just the way he's kind of thrown, the way he's been doing it all year long, he deserves it."
That's our ace 😤 pic.twitter.com/oVzZzaLhW3
It's understandable for Harper to endorse his teammate, and Wheeler has unquestionably once again pitched at a Cy Young-caliber in 2024. That doesn't necessarily mean that Wheeler will finally get over the hump and win the award, though.
Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale is currently the odds-on favorite, and if you compare his numbers with Wheeler's, he has the edge on a variety of key categories. (Any bolded stat means pitcher leads NL in that category.)
Wheeler: 16-6, 2.56 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 24 quality starts, 0.95 WHIP, 205 strikeouts, 0.87 HR/9, 9.88 K/9 and 5.0 WAR over 186 2/3 innings pitched
Sale: 17-3, 2.35 ERA, 2.02 FIP, 18 quality starts, 1.00 WHIP, 219 strikeouts, 0.42 HR/9, 11.42 K/9 and 6.4 WAR over 172 2/3 innings pitched
Wheeler has definitely been more of a workhorse than Sale, although it's fair to wonder if the gap is large enough to really push voters away from the realization that Sale has been the most dominant starting pitcher in the sport this season. The guess here is Wheeler is ultimately going to finish runner-up to Sale in NL Cy Young Award voting, three years after a narrow second-place finish behind Corbin Burnes, then with the Brewers.
For his part, Harper believes that not only should Wheeler take home the honor this year, but he shouldn't have won the NL Cy Young Award in 2021 too.
"He deserved it three years ago, when they robbed him of it," Harper opined. "So, you know, he deserves it this year no doubt."
