Sale becomes fastest pitcher to reach 1,500 Ks
In case you hadn't heard, Chris Sale is very good at striking batters out.
Entering Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox southpaw needed only three punchouts to become the fastest pitcher to ever record 1,500 career strikeouts, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Sale accomplished the deed before going through the Blue Jays' order even once when he fanned outfielder Kevin Pillar on four pitches in the bottom of the second inning. Steve Pearce and Jose Bautista also went down on strikes in the first two frames.
Chris Sale notches his 1,500th career strikeout in his 1,290th inning, faster than any other @MLB hurler on record. pic.twitter.com/8WanibDBUl
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) August 29, 2017
At the time of the strikeout, Sale had completed 1,290 career innings. It took Kerry Wood, the previous record-holder, 1,303 innings to reach the same milestone.
Sale is punching out batters out at the fastest clip of his career. He was striking out 12.77 batters per nine innings pitched entering Tuesday's affair at Rogers Centre. Combined with a 2.88 ERA, Sale is easily considered a front-runner for this season's American League Cy Young Award.