Sale finally gets it done / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Chris Sale battled hard again in Friday’s 8-2 Atlanta Braves win over the Diamondbacks, but this time, he started to break through. He had a start that was closer to his liking. 

He pitched five innings of one run ball giving up five hits on two walks while striking out four. Every punch out came on the slider. The Braves have won three of his starts this season, but this is the first time he pitched well enough to earn a win. 

The first five starts of the season had been frustrating for Sale and didn’t have family friendly words to describe his performances. He hadn’t made it out of the fifth inning in three starts and had allowed a home run in four straight starts heading into Friday. 

He never stopped holding himself accountable. After a win against the Phillies April 8, he said he was going to stare at the ceiling until 3 am because of his performance. In his following start in Tampa, Sale wouldn’t let anyone else take the blame for the loss. 

“I don’t think there’s any question who was the worst baseball player on that field today,” he said. 

That desire for perfection finally got him to a strong night out in Arizona. Velocity was there on his fastball. It averaged 94.7 mph and maxed out at 97.1 mph. His slider was breaking the way it needed to, getting 10 whiffs with it. Only four pitches were hit hard in fair territory. 

It was the breakthrough night. 

While he didn’t struggle as much in April last season, it’s still worth the reminder that his Cy Young campaign truly got started in May. April 26, 2024 was his first start in which he allowed only one earned run or fewer that season. In his five starts following that start, he had a 0.56 ERA in that span and won NL Pitcher of the Month. 

His April starts aren’t quite identical. Sale was pitching deeper into games and had one fewer start at this point. However, having a one-run performance exactly 365 days apart still brings what could be a poetic foreshadowing.