Levine: Chris Sale Not Likely To Hit 300-Strikeout Mark This Season
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- White Sox ace Chris Sale has had a remarkable run as the strikeout king of baseball in 2015.
Sale has been on fire, averaging 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Despite a record-setting pace for franchise strikeouts, Sale most likely will fall short of the coveted 300-mark in strikeouts for a season.
The last pitcher to fan 300 or more in a season was Pedro Martinez in 1999.
Sale refuses to get caught up in a numbers conversation, and he probably has five starts left in the season. In order to get to 300, he will have to average 11 strikeouts per start. This attempt at the big number could be sidetracked by manager Robin Ventura and the front office, as moving to a quasi-six-man rotation the rest of the season has been suggested.
"We are going to try to work some guys in," Ventura said Monday. "It will probably be a semi-six-man rotation, in a way. We can probably play around with it and slot guys a little differently if we need to."
With a young staff led by Sale, the smart money would be on the pitcher and the rest of the rotation getting more time off the next four weeks.
Nine pitchers since the modern era of baseball began in 1901 have struck out 300 or more batters in a season. Nolan Ryan holds the all-time mark of 383 strikeouts, in 1973. Pitchers with multiple 300-strikeout seasons include Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Martinez.
The 300-mark appeals to fans and the media alike, but without wins to go along with the gaudy number, it means little to Sale right now. On Monday, Sale gave up three solo homers in a 3-2 loss to Cleveland. Sale ran his season and major league-leading strikeout total to 247.
"It is cool to talk about with your buddies and family," Sale said after seeing his record fall to 12-8. "You don't get to the postseason with strikeouts. You don't get to the playoffs with fancy numbers. You get there by wins. Everyone in this clubhouse and in baseball will tell you the only thing that's important is winning."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
