Sale celebrates 10th All-Star nod with velo bump -- and 500th Braves K

ATLANTA -- Chris Sale gained his 10th All-Star selection and then spent the next couple of hours showing why he remains one of baseball’s elite pitchers.

Braves manager Walt Weiss proudly told Sale about his latest selection and then watched the veteran southpaw do his thing during a 14-3 win over the Mets on Saturday night at Truist Park.

“I always refer to him as a Hall of Famer, and I didn’t even know [he had 10 All-Star selections],” Weiss said. “But that’s crazy.”

What’s crazy is the tremendous level of success Sale has had since multiple injuries limited him to a total of 31 starts from 2020-23. His 10th All-Star selection is the third straight he has earned since the Red Sox sent him and $17 million to Atlanta in exchange for Vaughn Grissom before the 2024 season.

Sale's outing on Sunday included his 500th strikeout as a member of the Braves, which he recorded during a second-inning whiff of Mark Vientos. He became the 10th pitcher to reach this strikeout total with three different teams, having also done so with the White Sox and Red Sox.

He became the ninth left-hander in franchise history to record 500 strikeouts. The full list:

1) Warren Spahn 2,349
2) Tom Glavine 2091
3) Max Fried 863
4) Denny Lemaster 842
5) Lefty Tyler 827
6) Steve Avery 815
7) Ed Brandt 661
8) Mike Minor 566
9) Chris Sale 502

As for Sale’s 10 All-Star selections, they are the most among active pitchers and the second-highest total among all active players, trailing only Mike Trout’s 12 selections with the Angels.

“It’s special and I appreciate it,” Sale said. “It’s just crazy to think about, honestly.”

How do you celebrate this accomplishment? Well, Sale limited the Mets to three runs and six hits over five-plus innings. His Braves teammates rewarded him by hitting five homers in the blowout win.

This was a nice change, as the Braves scored a total of two runs while Sale was the pitcher of record during his four June starts.

Tyrone Taylor’s two-out homer in the fifth ended Sale’s 46-inning homerless streak, which had stood as MLB’s longest. Vientos then damaged the veteran lefty again with a two-run shot in the sixth.

After being in total control through most of the first five innings, Sale didn’t retire any of the four batters he faced in the sixth. But Dylan Lee, who didn’t gain an All-Star selection, stranded two inherited runners with three straight strikeouts.

“He’s certainly deserving of [a selection],” Sale said of Lee. “I was initially kind of upset with him because he showed me up, by punching out as many guys in one inning that I did in five. But yeah that game just shows you what he's been for us all year.”

The jovial Sale ranks fourth among qualified NL pitchers with the 2.27 ERA he’s posted through 16 starts. He has constructed a 1.94 ERA over his past 13 outings and his fastball has had as much life as it has at any point since he started to deal with discomfort and injuries during the 2019 season.

Sale’s four-seam fastball averaged 96.7 mph on Saturday, up from his season average of 95.9 mph entering play Saturday. It was the fifth-highest average he’s produced in any game going back to the start of 2019. Four of those highest averages have been produced since May 28.

The Braves have protected Sale’s workload by having him pitch once a week over the past month. The long-term results could be seen in September or October, but the immediate results are seen with the fastball that touched 99 mph against Eric Wagaman in the fourth.

This was the ninth time since the start of 2019 that Sale threw a pitch 99 mph or harder. Six of these pitches have been thrown this season, five since the start of June.

“Numbers and stuff like that comes secondary to just making starts,” Sale said. “You want to be healthy and you want to be consistent. I just want my guys in the clubhouse, when my name's on the lineup card to have some confidence and know we're going to have a chance to win.”