Sale has more Ks in 150 starts than any pitcher in MLB history
Chris Sale keeps racking up strikeouts at a historic pace for the Boston Red Sox.
The elite left-hander, who recently struck out 10 batters in Boston's 2-1 loss to Detroit in his second start of the season, has more strikeouts through 150 career starts (1,149) than any pitcher in baseball history, according to ESPN's Scott Lauber, citing the Elias Sports Bureau.
Sale is also the youngest starter (28 years old) with the shortest service time (eight-year career) to accumulate 1,273 strikeouts, placing him 31st on the active all-time strikeout leaders list.
The southpaw's first three starts, including Saturday's 12 strikeout performance in which he limited the Tampa Bay Rays to one run over seven innings, have been everything the Red Sox could have dreamed of when they acquired him in the offseason. To date, Sale has combined for a 5-29 walk-to-strikeout ratio, 1.25 ERA, and 0.74 WHIP.
Unfortunately for Sale and Co., the Red Sox have failed to score more than two runs in each of his three starts. The team's offense has provided the lefty an average of one run of support per game - second-worst in baseball.