In 2024, Chris Sale received plenty of hardware in the form of a National League Cy Young Award and a Gold Glove Award. In 2026, Sale added more to his collection with … a custom sword?
The veteran left-hander was gifted a custom sword from Mizuno, the Japanese sporting company, as a thanks for years of loyalty to the company. Sale couldn’t help contain his excitement for his new gift, and also had a message for his catchers.
“I’m going to tell my catchers that I’m finally calling my own pitches,” said Sale.
It was a somewhat appropriate gift, considering that Sale is one of the top pitchers at producing swords, an expression of the art of forcing a batter to take an uncomfortable, awkward swing that was popularized by Pitching Ninja. Since the metric was first tracked by Statcast in the second half of the 2023 season, Sale’s 65 swords are 10th-most among any pitcher.
Sale, who is expected to be the Braves' Opening Day starter once again, agreed to a one-year, $27 million contract extension on Tuesday that includes a $30 million option for the 2028 season.