Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale is making his case for the National League Cy Young award.
The Atlanta Braves would be lost without their ace Chris Sale. At 37 years old, the veteran left-hander has continued to defy age and this year is once again a contender to win the National League Cy Young Award, which if he does would be his second in the past three seasons.
He faces stiff competition from Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers, but it remains well within reach. Across 19 starts, Sale has posted a 2.19 ERA across 111 innings pitched with 134 strikeouts.
He has been the primary reason the Braves have had so much stability at the top of their rotation and is singlehandedly carrying a pitching staff that has struggled to find reliable options behind him. He earned his third straight All-Star selection as a member of the Braves this season, a testament to how consistently dominant he has remained even as he enters the late stages of his career.
Sale had another quality start Thursday in Atlanta's series finale against the San Diego Padres, going six innings and allowing just three runs while keeping the Braves in the game after some early trouble. It was enough to get them the win. Despite the three runs allowed, he had his best stuff on display, racking up 11 strikeouts against Padres hitters, a feat that placed him in MLB history.
"Chris Sale now has 94 career double-digit strikeout games. That ranks seventh all-time, trailing only Nolan Ryan (215), Randy Johnson (212), Max Scherzer (114), Roger Clemens (110), Pedro Martinez (108) and Sandy Koufax (97)," reported Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
Sale will have plenty of time to chase down Scherzer and the others in front of him, though Ryan and Johnson are likely out of reach given the volume of their totals. However, to simply be in that company speaks to the career Sale has built across 16 seasons in the big leagues.
He was a World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox and served as the ace of the Chicago White Sox for several years before that, establishing himself as one of the premier strikeout pitchers of his generation.
The Braves extended him and he is under contract through the 2027 season, with a club option that could keep him in Atlanta through 2028 as well. For a rotation that needs him now more than ever, that commitment could not be more important as October approaches.
