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White Sox Chris Sale the best pitcher in baseball?

By Benno Martens |
May 1, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (49) throws a pitch in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Chicago White Sox won 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
May 1, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (49) throws a pitch in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Chicago White Sox won 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Very quietly, Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox is making a case to be the best pitcher in baseball today.

The debate over the best pitcher in Major League Baseball is one that has no definitive answer. Depending upon the stat, the case can be made for any of a number of players. Perhaps the best of the bunch right now, though, is one who is flying under the radar despite being on a collision course with history: Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.

Clayton Kershaw has 10+ strikeouts in his past five starts and leads all big league pitchers in fWAR and FIP. Jake Arrieta sports the lowest ERA, threw his second career no-hitter, and is the ace for the team with the best record in the Major Leagues. Max Scherzer recently became just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a game and has two no-hitters of his own.

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Any team would be over the moon to have any one of those guys, but Sale should not be overlooked. After Friday night’s shutout of the Yankees, the lanky lefty has won his first eight starts, the first to do so in the AL since 2005. Sale is just the third starter since 1969 to begin a season 8-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA, and his eight wins are equal to that of both the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves.

While Arrieta and the Cubs get all the love from the media, Sale has helped propel Chicago’s other team to the best record in the American League. His fWAR of 1.8 is second only to Kershaw, and his 1.67 ERA is fourth in MLB.

The record for consecutive victories to open the season in the live ball era, set by Andy Hawkins of the San Diego Padres in 1985, is 10 wins in 10 starts. That number is now well within Sale’s grasp, but that’s not why he is arguably the best pitcher in the American League.

Friday’s start was a microcosm of just how dominant he has become. Sale needed only 99 pitches to burn through nine innings, scattering six hits, striking out six, and not issuing a walk. In no inning did he throw more than 15 pitches.

In all four of his full seasons as a starter, Sale has placed in the top six of the Cy Young voting and been on the all-star team. In 2014, he led the league in strikeouts per nine innings and then did it again 2015 while also being tops in strikeout-to-walk ratio. His ERA+ in 2014 was the best in baseball, as was his FIP in 2015.

Thus far in 2016, he’s been a workhorse, with an AL-best 59.1 innings of work. Despite the relative obscurity, he’s in the top 10 among all pitchers in walks per nine innings, batting average on balls in play, and left on base percentage. And in large part because of Sale, the Pale Hose have the best fWAR and team ERA in the American League.

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All of this isn’t to say that Chris Sale is hands down the best pitcher in baseball. What it should illustrate is that he belongs in the conversation right alongside Kershaw, Arrieta, and the rest. If he and the White Sox continue their dominant play throughout the summer, Sale will no longer be one of the game’s best-kept secrets.

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