Dr. K, better than Randy Johnson! 2500 strikeouts in minimum innings, fightback from CYA Sale May 5G ERA 1.11
May 30, 2025
|
Sale started the second game of the away doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on the 30th (Korea time), and led the team to a 9-3 victory by giving up two hits and three walks in six innings and blocking scoreless games.
He added eight strikeouts to increase his season's strikeouts to 86 and kissed 2,500 strikeouts.
After two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning with a 6-0 lead, Sale threw Edmundo Sosa to a low course on the body with a 5th pitch 81 miles slider at the ball count 1B2S, inducing a swing and miss, and striking out him.
He achieved a 2,500 strikeout record in 2026 innings, advancing Randy Johnson's previous minimum ⅔ record of 2107 innings by 81 innings. Johnson topped 2,500 strikeouts on June 21, 1999, when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
However, Johnson scored 2500 strikeouts in his 313rd game and Sale his 384th game. This is not because of the difference in strikeout ability, but because Sale threw as a bullpen pitcher for two seasons in the early days of his big league debut.
Sale made his debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2010 and began throwing as a full-time starter in 2012, two years later. Johnson has 10.61 strikeouts and Sale 11.11 strikeouts in nine innings on average.
|
|
This season, he showed a slow start by giving up more than three earned runs in the first four consecutive games, including six hits and three runs in five innings in the opening game against Atlanta. However, he has rebounded with 32 ⅓ innings, two wins, a 1.11 ERA, four strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.05, and a hit rate of 0.211 in five games in May.
On the same day, the fastball speed reached a maximum of 97.6 miles and an average of 94.6 miles. In particular, Philadelphia starter Jack Wheeler drew attention as he faced off as an ace. Wheeler lost the game with his worst pitching this season, allowing four hits, four walks and six runs in five ⅓ innings. He pitched 76 innings in 12 games of the season with a 6-2 ERA, 2.96 ERA, 94 strikeouts, WHIP 0.92 and a 0.190 hit rate.
After the game, Sale said "When you come to the expedition, you want to win at least one game and leave. Today was a tough game overall, but I won and was able to get on the plane with joy. If I go back home, I'll be able to play a good game again."
|
Sale signed a five-year, $145 million extension in March 2019 when he was with the Boston Red Sox, but immediately after the game against the Cleveland Guardians on August 14, 2019, he entered a long 'rehabilitation tunnel' complaining of left elbow pain.
After receiving Tommy John Surgery in March 2020, he returned in August 2021 after a year and five months of rehabilitation, but he was again on the injured list (IL) and pitched only nine games. In 2022, he had another season on the IL with a right rib stress fracture, returned briefly in July, threw two games, and ended the season with a fractured left pinky finger.
In 2023, he went on the IL in early June due to a left shoulder injury, then took a two-month break and returned on Aug. 12. However, he threw 102 ⅔ innings in 20 games that year, showing a 4.30 ERA, indicating a possibility of a comeback, and eventually wore an Atlanta uniform through a trade in December 2023.
The 2,500 strikeouts are the 40th in history, and the fourth among active players after Justin Verlander (3547), Max Scherzer (3408), and Clayton Kershaw (2974).
Sale signed an extension with Atlanta in January last year to a two-year, $38 million club option and $18 million in 2026, his third year. This season's annual salary is $22 million.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
