Zack Wheeler dominates NL pitching leader stats, surpasses Chris Sale in WHIP & Shota Imanaga in ERA 

The Philadelphia Phillies won their 13th National League East title, and their ace Zack Wheeler has been the best player on the team this season. As per Baseball Reference, Wheeler has 6.1 WAR for 2024, which is the highest among all Phillies players. As a result, he is one of the top contenders for the NL Cy Young Award alongside the Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale and the Chicago Cubs' Shota Imanaga.

Wheeler made his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 2013. He missed the entire 2015 campaign following elbow surgery before going on to establish himself as one of the top pitchers in the game. Wheeler has been outstanding for the Phillies since joining them in 2020, having delivered five straight winning seasons to hold a 59-32 record for the team along with an ERA below 3.00.

This year, Wheeler earned his second All-Star selection before making 32 starts during the regular season while finishing with a 16-7 record and a 2.57 ERA. Wheeler also logged 200 innings for the second time in his career and struck out 224 batters this season. He leads the National League in several pitching categories, including with his 0.995 WHIP and 6.255 hits per nine innings.

"He's a Cy Young [winner]," Phillies superstar Bryce Harper said. "I don't think anybody in baseball is better than him at this point. I think he got robbed of it three years ago and I believe he earned it this year."

In 2021, Wheeler produced arguably the best campaign of his career when he led the entire MLB with 213.1 innings, which contained three complete games and two shutouts. Yet he ended as the runner-up behind Corbin Burnes even though he had superior numbers in a host of categories.

Comparing Zack Wheeler with Chris Sale and Shota Imanaga

Chris Sale had a disappointing end to his time with the Boston Red Sox, as they traded him to the Atlanta Braves after making just 31 starts in the last four years. However, the veteran southpaw produced a remarkable comeback to become a top contender to win his first Cy Young Award. Sale ended the season on an 18-3 record with a 2.38 ERA, 225 strikeouts, and 0.9 home runs per nine innings.

Shota Imanaga has probably been the biggest surprise of the 2024 MLB season after an excellent rookie campaign with the Chicago Cubs. The left-hander from Japan finished the season with a 15-3 record with a 2.57 ERA and 1.021 WHIP from 173.1 innings. However, he comes up behind Wheeler and Sale in nearly every pitching criteria.

Therefore, Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler are likely going to be the two top dogs for the NL Cy Young Award this year. As per the numbers, Sale has the edge in slugging, ERA, expected ERA, WAR, and win probability added. On the other hand, Wheeler holds the advantage in quality starts, innings pitched, batting average, on-base percentage, WHIP, OPS and wOBA.