This is becoming a running theme…Chris Sale ladies and gentlemen
Not only is Chris Sale clearly the best pitcher on the Red Sox pitching staff, but he’s also one of the best in the whole American League and possibly all of baseball. He’s fifth in the AL in ERA at 1.92 and would be getting even more attention if the Sox could find a way to score runs for him. He leads the league by far in strikeouts with 73 – second place is Clayton Kershaw with 53! And he’s second in the league in innings pitched proving to be a real work-horse for John Farrell.
This week saw Sale cruise through eight innings against the Orioles in which he gave up only two runs on just three hits and sat down eleven batters by way of the K. He also got Manny Machado fired up as discussed earlier.
Then he finally proved he was actually human in Minnesota on Sunday giving up four runs and walking three batters. He still only allowed four hits though and added another double digit strikeout game to his resume finishing with ten SO’s.
Next: Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon starting to heat up
I’ve been saying it since day one and the guys at NESN are in agreement – Chris Sale has already become a major leader in the clubhouse. It’s through his performance on the field, but also how he goes about his job and his words to the media after games that have proven to his teammates that he is the real deal. I know it’s early, but it already appears to me that Sale is on a mission to lead the Sox to the playoff and to take home the Cy Young. For now though he’ll he have to settle on winning the rights to Strut his stuff!