It’s only late April, but a clear leader in the National League Cy Young race is emerging.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale has been off to an incredible start this season. The left-handed ace kept rolling in the Braves’ home game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Chris Sale separated himself in the super-early Cy Young race in Sunday’s outing against Phillies
Sale, 37, allowed one hit and struck out nine batters in a 6-2 win over the Phillies. In doing so, he passed five-time All-Star Chuck Finley for the 28th-most strikeouts (2,617) in MLB history. He ranks seventh among left-handed pitchers.
Sale now has a 5-1 starting record. Entering Sunday, Jose Soriano (Los Angeles Angels) and Aaron Ashby (Milwaukee Brewers) were the only other pitchers who had five wins.
Soriano and Ashby, though, haven’t been as dominant as Sale. Per StatMuse, he’s the only pitcher this season to have four starts with six-plus innings pitched, one or fewer errors and five-plus strikeouts.