Chris Sale keeps stacking dominant starts, and the numbers are starting to sound like a throwback to Greg Maddux in his prime.
The Braves left-hander was sharp again Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets at Citi Field, working six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine. Atlanta backed him with just enough offense, getting Matt Olson’s RBI single in the sixth for the only run support Sale needed.
That outing pushed Sale to a 2.08 ERA through his first 20 starts, a mark that lands fifth among Braves pitchers in the divisional era since 1969. It also keeps his season in elite company across the majors, where his ERA ranks third behind only the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski at 1.58 and the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler at 2.04. Both are more than a decade younger.
Sale has now held opponents scoreless in three of his last four starts, and his first 20 starts have already put him alongside some of the best stretches Atlanta has ever seen. The only Braves to finish that early-season span with a sub-2.10 ERA since 1969 are Reynaldo López, who was at 2.05 in 2024, and Maddux, who did it three times: 1.57 in 1998, 1.96 in 1995 and 1.75 in 1994.
That Maddux comparison carries real weight. Maddux won his fourth straight National League Cy Young Award in 1995, and in 1998 he was 32 years old when he finished fourth in the voting behind teammate Tom Glavine, Trevor Hoffman and Kevin Brown.
Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz are three of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, but they weren’t doing this for Atlanta at 37. Sale’s run is rare even by the standards of all-time greats.
The 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner is one of six pitchers since 1920 to post a sub-2.10 ERA through the first 20 starts of an age-37 season or older.
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