It was another stellar start from Atlanta Braves star pitcher Chris Sale as he earned his 11th win Wednesday night as the team beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-0. The win for Sale is not only the most in the National League (NL), but also tied for the most in all the majors with Kansas City Royals ace Seth Lugo.
The statistic is also eye-opening as with the immense amount of injury spells that Sale has dealt with in his career, especially with the Boston Red Sox, 11 wins at this point of the season is a marvel. Even Sale himself made fun of the news, asking a humorous question to the media after the game according to ESPN.
“Is that more wins than I've gotten in the last five years combined?” Sale asked the media reportedly with a smile after the Braves beat the Giants.
To basically answer the 35-year old's question, it is not, but it does tie his last three seasons combined, technically four since he missed 2020 with Tommy John surgery. Looking at it in another impressive way, it is the most wins he has had in his career since 2018 with the Red Sox where he finished with 12. Barring any injuries this season, he will eclipse that since it is July.
Sale talks about representing the Braves in starting the All-Star game
Along with the 11-3 record, he has a 2.71 earned run average (eighth in the majors), 127 strikeouts (fourth in the majors), and a 0.91 WHIP (tied for first in the majors). There is no doubt he is earning himself All-Star considerations as Sale said he would love to be a part of it, but he does not “want to be distracted.”
“We'll cross that bridge if it gets here,” Sale said when asked about the possibility of being named the National League's starting pitcher. “I would appreciate it, but again, we've got games to play. I don't want to be distracted.”
A person who is happy to see the production from Sale and to possibly see him be the starting national league pitcher for the All-Star Game is Braves manager Brian Snitker. Atlanta took a chance on the Florida native to see if he can rehabilitate his career after health frustrations while with Boston and it has so far paid dividends as Snitker talks about how “fun” it is to watch him pitch according to Sports Illustrated.
“It's awesome; I'm happy for him,” Snitker said of Sale's production this season and chances to start the All-Star game. “It's just been really good, I'll tell you what it's been fun watching him compete pitch and how he goes about it. I don't know that it can be much better. But honestly, I mean, he's just been strong all year and like one of the most competitive guys I've ever been around.”
“It's big when they cover innings,” Snitker continued. “It's huge for everything involved, so having him out there today was really good. He's been on a run and throwing the ball extremely. I'm just glad we scored some runs for him.”
Sale says other Braves stars joining him at All-Star game would be “fun”
Sale most likely would not be alone in getting to the All-Star game as there have been other players on Atlanta who have showed out like fellow pitchers Reynaldo Lopez and Max Fried, along with designated hitter Marcell Ozuna who has been on a tear. As Sale has about two more starts before the break for the All-Star game, he spoke about possibly being joined by his teammates for the festivities.
“That would be a lot of fun,” Sale said. “I’m not exactly sure how it’s all going to shake out, but the more teammates we can get there the more fun it would be.”
In terms of his outing as a whole against the Giants on Wednesday, he pitched six innings while striking out nine batters, walking two, allowing three hits, and having only one earned run. There is no doubt he loves what he is seeing from his production, but he makes sure to point out the run support he is getting plus the bullpen according to David O'Brien of The Athletic.
“No, it’s good. It’s great,” Sale said. “I definitely appreciate it. I do want to point out that to get there, you obviously have to have guys scoring runs. Our defense has been damn near perfect. And you look at tonight, the bullpen came in and the game was over in the seventh inning. So, all those things help a lot and I definitely appreciate that.”
Braves setting up Sale for further success
Even with all the Braves success, their team is not fully healthy in terms of their pitching department, but that could be resolved sooner rather than later besides the season-ending injury to ace Spencer Strider. Snitker would talk about how that area of the team is getting “manageable now.”
“It's very manageable now,” Snitker said. “You get Mint back (pitcher A.J. Minter) and now, all of a sudden you got your three mid-inning, leverage, guys, and Iggy. You can mix and match really good when you get starters, covering most of the game.”
What also helps a player like Sale to ease some of the tension is to have a dynamic offensive lineup giving him the support as besides the aforementioned Ozuna and the injured Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta consists of such names as Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies. One that has been especially coming up huge is 24-year old outfielder Jared Kelenic who since being at the leadoff spot on June 15, he has had a .323 batting average and five home runs.
“That guy’s been a sparkplug,” Sale said about Kelenic via The Athletic. “There’s no other way to say it. What he’s been able to do, basically as soon as he started to play every day and getting his reps, he took off. You put him in that leadoff spot and I don’t know the numbers, but I can’t imagine there’s too many guys in the leadoff spot since he started that have done better than him.”
At any rate, the Braves will continue to produce as they have a 47-37 record which puts them second in the NL East behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Their next game is Thursday night as they look to win the rubber match and the series against the Giants.
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