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Chris Sale

2026
Braves· LHP · throws L· 162.2 IP· 2.16 ERA· 0.98 WHIP· 648 batters faced
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Grade

His grade shows how good he has been, and at what.
A+better than 99% of qualified pitchers at limiting bases
StarterComplete Arm

Suppresses damage and throws strikes — the full package.

Sale is among the league's best at limiting bases

The simulator expects him to allow 0.391 bases per batter faced, better than 99% of qualified pitchers. His best skill is getting strikeouts (98th percentile).

His grade rests on 648 batters faced, with data through 2026-09-27.

How to read this chart
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size, not a raw season stat, and farther out is better. A ↓ marks a stat where a lower number is better, and its spoke is flipped so farther out still means better. The middle ring marks the league median and the outer ring the league best. Percentiles compare him with 517 qualified pitchers, those with 100+ batters faced, starters and relievers together.

Plays like…

Each of these pitchers shares his archetype and sits closest to him in xEB/PA. Pick one to see him side by side with Chris Sale.

Drew RasmussenRaysLouis VarlandBlue JaysMax FriedYankeesJesús LuzardoPhillies

Pitcher type

This map shows what kind of pitcher he is, next to the league.

Pitcher type

He lands in the “Misses bats, limits hard contact” corner of the map.

League best:K% − BB% Jacob Misiorowski (26.8%)Hard-hit% allowed Blake Snell (29.0%)

How to read this chart
Two skills separate pitching styles: strikeout rate minus walk rate, where higher is better, and hard-hit rate allowed, where lower is better. The hard-hit axis is flipped, so the best corner is the top right. Each dot is a pitcher with 80+ batters faced this season, sized by batters faced. The dashed lines are the league median on each skill, and the league best on each is named above the chart. Click any dot to open that pitcher's page.
 Chris SaleLeague medianPercentile
Bases per ball in play(lower = better).474.527—
Walk rate(lower = better)5%9%98th
Strikeout rate(higher = better)29%22%98th

A higher percentile is better, and the 99th is the top of the league.

Arsenal

These cards show what he throws and what each pitch does.

Chris Sale mixes his four-seam fastball (41%) and slider (40%). His best pitch has been the sinker, saving 5.4 bases per 100 thrown against league average, and his four-seam fastball runs 2.6 mph faster than the median left-handed pitcher's.

Pitch mix & swing-and-miss

+156 bases better than a replacement arm this season

He allowed about 224 estimated bases, against a replacement arm's 380 over the same batters faced.

Replacement level is per-batter and can't be split by pitch type, so the bars below use league average.

All pitches

He saved 56.9 bases against league average across 2,574 pitches, or 2.2 per 100 pitches.

Four-Seam Fastball
41%
96.1 mph · LHP median 93.5
28% whiffs · Lg median 21%
saved 1.4 per 10014.8 total
Slider
40%
79.8 mph · LHP median 85.6
38% whiffs · Lg median 33%
saved 2.2 per 10022.5 total
Changeup
10%
88.5 mph · LHP median 85.1
30% whiffs · Lg median 30%
saved 3.0 per 1008.0 total
Sinker
8%
95.6 mph · LHP median 92.9
11% whiffs · Lg median 13%
saved 5.4 per 10011.6 total
How to read this chart
Each row is a pitch he throws at least 3% of the time, from pitch tracking in the regular season. The bar is how often he throws it, then its average velocity and its whiff rate, the share of swings that miss. Beside the velocity and the whiff rate is the median for that pitch, among pitchers of his hand for velocity and across the league for whiffs. More whiffs are better for a pitcher, while usage and velocity describe how he pitches. The Bases vs average bars score each pitch against a league-average pitch in the same count, and a bar to the left (saved) is better.

Mix by batter side

Compared with the league, his slider tilts 16 points more toward righties.

Four-Seam Fastball
27% vs LHH · LHP median 34%
46% vs RHH · LHP median 41%
Slider
39% vs LHH · LHP median 33%
40% vs RHH · LHP median 18%
How to read this chart
Each row shows how often he throws a pitch to left-handed hitters (LHH) and right-handed hitters (RHH), next to the median for pitchers of his hand (LHP median). Medians come from left-handed pitchers who throw that pitch at least 3% of the time. Between 103 and 149 of them qualify, depending on the pitch. A mix is a plan, so a higher or lower share is neither better nor worse. Overall results by batter side are under Platoon splits.

Chris Sale's pitch movement, 2026

None of his pitches has clearly moved from its early-season shape.

The verdict above compares each pitch with his own early-season outings in 2026, not with other pitchers, after taking out the league-wide drift in break.

Chris Sale's pitch movement, 2026012012in← glove sidearm side →more risemore drop
Four-Seam FastballFF
Rise 10.2 in
−5.5 vs Lg median
Break 14.4 in
+6.7 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SliderSL
Rise −4.1 in
−5.9 vs Lg median
Break −12.8 in
−9.1 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
ChangeupCH
Rise 0.2 in
−3.9 vs Lg median
Break 16.8 in
+2.6 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SinkerSI
Rise 3.4 in
−4.9 vs Lg median
Break 18.0 in
+2.8 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
Early season → nowLg medianNormal wobble around the dot
How to read this chart
Each dot is a pitch's current break in inches, averaged over his latest outings. Higher is more rise and further right is more arm-side break, and neither is better or worse. The faint trail runs from his early-season outings to the dot, and the soft halo shows how far normal noise can move it. League median is the small hollow ring, and a pitch marked * has none because too few pitchers throw it. The “changed” verdict removes a league-wide drift that the trail still shows, so a long trail can read as steady. The by-appearance chart below has the exact dates. More on the About page

By appearance

These charts follow his velocity, movement and mix from outing to outing.

These charts follow his velocity, movement and pitch mix one outing at a time, and each pitch keeps the same color in every chart. The velocity and movement charts also shade the middle of the league for scale.

Platoon splits

This section splits his results against lefties and righties.

Platoon splits (EB/PA allowed)

He handles lefty bats better than righty bats, by 0.037 EB/PA allowed.

50% probable range: +0.029 to +0.046

vs LHB162 PA0.363

vs LHB: shrunk estimate 0.363 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.346 to 0.379, based on 162 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.341 EB/PA. League median vs LHB: 0.451 EB/PA.

vs RHB489 PA0.400

vs RHB: shrunk estimate 0.400 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.384 to 0.416, based on 489 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.370 EB/PA. League median vs RHB: 0.435 EB/PA.

0.3340.3660.3990.4310.464
← betterworse →
Below league medianAbove50% probable rangeHis raw rateMiddle half of the league

His split is about typical for a lefty arm (median 0.038). He allows less than the league median against both sides, so even his weaker side is a strength.

How to read this chart
  • Each dot is his estimate against that side, with its 50% probable range as the bar. These are bases allowed, so lower is better.
  • The diamond is his raw rate, which small samples make noisy, so the simulator pulls the dot toward a more trustworthy value.
  • The dashed tick is the league median, and the shaded strip is the middle half of pitchers with 100 or more batters faced.
  • The two splits average back to his modeled overall EB/PA allowed, not the xEB/PA headline.
  • Tap or hover a mark for its number. LHB and RHB are left- and right-handed batters. More on the About page

Contact allowed

These cards show what hitters do when they make contact.

Batters go up the middle off him most often, but they do the most damage to the pull side.

Pull side and opposite field depend on which side each batter hits from, so this pools every hitter he faced.

Batted balls allowed

Every ball hit off Chris Sale this season is drawn where it landed.
hit · out
EBlowhigh
vs Zach NetoHome run
107 mph · 29° · worth 3.9 bases
04/06 vs Angels
vs Jo AdellHome run
113 mph · 24° · worth 3.8 bases
04/06 vs Angels
vs Tyrone TaylorHome run
104 mph · 28° · worth 3.7 bases
07/04 vs Mets
vs Mark VientosHome run
104 mph · 30° · worth 3.5 bases
07/04 vs Mets
vs Alec BohmHome run
107 mph · 22° · worth 3.5 bases
09/04 vs Phillies

Luck check

2 outs behind him came on balls the simulator values at 1.5 bases or more.

vs Enrique HernándezOutLucky out
102 mph · 27° · worth 2.7 bases
08/27 vs Dodgers
How to read this chart
Dot color is estimated bases (EB), what the contact was worth no matter what the defense did with it. Darker means more bases, so a dark hollow ring in the outfield is a crushed ball his defense ran down. Tap or hover a dot or a row to link the two, and use the ▶ links to watch a play on Baseball Savant.

Deserved vs. actual

Batters have been credited with about 7 fewer bases than their contact off Chris Sale deserved, so his results have been lucky so far.

Deserved by the contact he allowed190
Actually credited to batters183

Both bars count 402 balls in play, with walks and strikeouts left out.

How to read this chart
Every ball in play is worth the bases its exit velocity, launch angle and direction usually produce. If batters were credited with more than that, his results have been unlucky, and fewer means lucky. BABIP against is the batting average on balls in play he allows, next to the league median.

ERA 2.16 · WHIP 0.98 · BABIP against 0.304 (Lg median 0.286)

Times through the order

These charts show what happens as hitters see him a second and third time.

Best games

These are his biggest outings this season.

Best games

These are his best outings this season, ranked by bases saved against a replacement arm.

Multi-season trends · Chris Sale

Compared with last season, his HR allowed% is down, his BB% is down and his FB% against is down.

Actual rates show what happened on the field, season by season.