Chris Sale rediscovering dominance at right time for ChiSox
By Tim Haberin
Aces don’t typically finish a month with a 5.32 ERA. Chicago White Sox star hurler Chris Sale endured a painful beginning, physically and otherwise, to the 2015 season. His early struggles were understandable: the big lefty suffered a fractured right foot and a sprained ankle in the offseason that delayed his season debut to April 12. Yet injury or not, no pitcher, especially a perennial Cy Young contender, likes to get tagged for eight earned runs in only three innings, as Sale did on April 30 against the Twins. The shelling ballooned Sale’s ERA over 5.00 for the first time in over two years.
Sale is not exactly a stranger to health issues, having missed over a month last season with a strained flexor muscle in his left arm. The layoff did not appear to slow him much, however, as Sale barely skipped a beat upon returning to the White Sox rotation in late May. In his first 32 innings after activation from the DL, he allowed only six earned runs along with a masterful 19.5 K/BB ratio. He continued to mow down all competition on his way to a 2.17 ERA on the year and a third-place finish in Cy Young voting.
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That would be a challenging campaign for even one of the game’s best pitchers to live up to, yet Sale never seems like the kind of guy you would bet against to outdo himself. So when 2015 didn’t quite start according to script, even after Sale’s return from injury, it may have caused a little consternation on the South Side of Chicago.
Fortunately for the White Sox and their fans, those early season hiccups seem to be firmly in the rear-view mirror. Sale is enjoying a stretch that is simply overpowering even by his standards. Across his last five starts, he has tossed 38.2 innings while allowing just 19 hits, six walks and six earned runs. He has also struck out 53 batters in that span.
He has completed eight innings in three of those five outings, and racked up double-digit strikeout totals in four of them. Yesterday’s start against the Rangers was a classic exercise in dominance, as Sale threw seven shutout frames, surrendering only three hits and fanning 13. If he maintains this pace, he might end up surpassing last season’s efforts after all. A Cy Young in Sale’s future seems inevitable. Could it happen this year? It’s a crowded field, but stay tuned.
Sale’s return to form comes at a highly opportune moment for Chicago. The Sox are three games under .500 and 6.5 games back in the hotly contested American League Central. After a six-game winning streak in the middle of May that helped get their season back on track, the ChiSox have dropped 10 of 16 and find themselves at a crossroads. A rejuvenation from their ace could be exactly what they need to get back in the thick of the race.
Another crucial piece of the puzzle is the reigning AL Rookie of the Year. Jose Abreu co-starred with Sale in last night’s 9-2 victory. After missing three games with a finger injury, Abreu went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI. While the first baseman is lagging behind last season’s torrid pace, his current numbers are certainly nothing to sneeze at: .286 BA, 9 HR, 32 RBI. He doesn’t need to match his outstanding 2014 production to be an influential force on the team. Chicago will depend on him to lead the offense the way it counts on Sale to lead its pitching staff.
From purely a spectator’s point of view, it’s just great to see Sale stifle opposing offenses again, as we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing him do. With his tall, lanky frame and funky delivery, Sale is definitely one of the more intriguing aces in baseball to watch go about his craft. And right now, it looks like he’s decisively re-established his starts as appointment viewing.