ATLANTA – Chris Sale’s bid for a second Cy Young Award in three seasons is being blocked by Jacob Misiorowski’s greatness. But the Braves ace is padding his Hall of Fame resume while doing things most pitchers his age have never done.
Sale continued to impress as he constructed his latest gem against the D-backs in Friday night's 2-0 loss at Truist Park. Sale allowed one run over six innings and exited with a 2.16 ERA, which ranks second among qualified MLB pitchers this year, trailing only Misiorowski’s 1.76.
Sale’s ERA actually had a chance to be even better. The only run he surrendered came during the first inning after Corbin Carroll’s double moved Geraldo Perdomo to third base, in position to score on Gabriel Moreno’s groundout. Carroll’s liner was initially ruled an error on Mauricio Dubón, who broke in on the ball and slipped while reaching to grab it.
Even with the scoring change, Sale is one of just seven pitchers of the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to post a 2.20 ERA or better through the first 22 starts of their age 37 or older season. The others are Spud Chandler (1946), Dutch Leonard (1948), Kevin Brown (2003), Roger Clemens (2005), Max Scherzer (2022) and Justin Verlander (2022).
Sale highlighted Friday’s effort with nine strikeouts to run his season total to 160. He ranks eighth in the Majors in this category and has a chance to secure what would be his ninth career 200-strikeout season.
How many pitchers of the Live Ball Era have recorded a 2.20 ERA or better, with 150-plus strikeouts through the first 22 starts of an age 37 or older season?
That would now be Sale and Scherzer, who did this in 2022.