ARLINGTON, Texas — All lefty ace Chris Sale ever really wanted to be for his team — any team — was a Mark Buehrle type.
“The gold standard,” Sale, the former White Sox star, called Buehrle, his former mentor, a day before the All-Star Game. “You take the ball every fifth day, you go as deep as you can in games and you don’t get hurt. That was just what you did then. That was it.”
In seven years with the Sox, remembered for his spectacular five-year stretch as a starter, Sale built the foundation for such a career. He dominated on the mound and spent very little time on the injured list before the Sox traded him to Boston for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and others heading into 2017.
But after seven straight All-Star appearances and top-six finishes in the Cy Young race, Sale was taken aback as his health abandoned him. Between Tommy John surgery and hand, wrist and back injuries, he made a total of 11 big-league starts from 2020 through 2022.
“It took its toll on me a little more because I wasn’t used to it and that’s just now how I was wired,” he said. “Being injured like that wasn’t even a possibility to me. But through my injuries, I learned that my path is to get up and get through it. I think, in a weird way, it helped me get to where I am today.”
Now 35 and absolutely killing it for the Braves, who traded for him in the offseason, Sale not only is pitching as well as ever but has a chance to be the best in baseball in 2024. Pirates rookie Paul Skenes, who will start Tuesday’s game, is all the rage, but it’s Sale who leads the majors in wins — he’s 13-3 — to go with his 2.70 ERA, miniscule 0.95 WHIP and 140 strikeouts. If Sale hadn’t pitched for the Braves on Sunday, he’d have had the best case of anyone, Skenes included, to start for the National League.
Sox fans must wonder what it would be like to have the 2024 versions of both Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, Braves teammates. How is it that a power-throwing right-hander the Sox gave up on as a starter in 2021 is an All-Star as a starter with a winning team and in a top organization? Lopez — whom the Sox traded along with Lucas Giolito to the Angels for prospects at last year’s deadline — is 7-3 with a 1.88 ERA.
“It’s a dream,” Lopez said, “and one of the best things in my life.”
Sale called Lopez “unbelievable” and didn’t stop there.
“As of right now, I think he’s the best pitcher in the National League if you look at his numbers and what he’s done, just his consistency,” Sale said. “I mean, you get to this point in a season and your bad start is [giving up] three runs? A lot of people would do a lot of things to have that. And with his work ethic, he deserves this. He earned this in every right.”