Chris Sale Becomes Fastest Pitcher to Reach Significant Strikeout Milestone

At 36, the Braves pitcher remains a force to be reckoned with.

Chris Sale pitches against the Twins. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

In the history of baseball, 40 pitchers have struck out 2,500 batters—from Hall of Fame icons like Walter Johnson to very good compilers like A.J. Burnett.

No one has ever joined that club faster than Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale.

Sale punched out Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Eduardo Sosa swinging with two outs in the sixth inning Thursday evening to register the 2,500th strikeout of his career. He did so in just 2,026 innings—the fewest needed to reach 2,500 strikeouts in the history of baseball.

A plausible candidate to one day reach the Hall of Fame, Sale ranks second only to Blake Snell on the all-time strikeouts per nine innings leaderboard.

The Lakeland, Fla. native was one of the best pitchers of the 2010s, stringing together seven straight All-Star appearances in that decade for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox from 2012 to '18.

In 2024, he made a thrilling, out-of-nowhere return to form with the Braves. He won the Triple Crown with 18 wins, 225 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA—and finally won an elusive Cy Young award.

This year, Sale is 2-3 with a 3.36 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings pitched.

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