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Boston Red Sox: Chris Sale still in driver’s seat for Cy Young despite injury

By Oliver Gold

BOSTON, MA - JULY 11: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after making the third out in the seventh inning of a game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on July 11, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JULY 11: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after making the third out in the seventh inning of a game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on July 11, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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For the second time this season, Chris Sale was placed on the 10-day DL with inflammation in his left shoulder. However, the Boston Red Sox ace should still win the AL Cy Young.

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale has finished in the top-10 in the AL Cy Young voting every season since 2012 and has finished in the top-5 in every season since 2013.

However, he has never actually won the prestigious award.

Sale was the clear front-runner to finally win the award this season. He has been dominant all season long and has been the ace of the 89-39 Red Sox, the best team in baseball. Sale is currently 12-4 with a 1.97 ERA and has 219 strikeouts over 146 innings pitched.

Unfortunately for Sale, his left shoulder injury has made the AL Cy Young Award a race again.

Sale went to the DL for the first time with the Red Sox on July 31 with left shoulder inflammation. He returned on August 12th and pitched five innings, yielding just one hit and no runs over 68 pitches. He struck out 12 in the outing and looked absolutely dominant.

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The southpaw was scheduled to pitch again on Sunday but was placed on the disabled list again Saturday with the same injury. It is unknown how much time the Red Sox ace will miss, but it appears that the Boston Red Sox are not taking any chances and want to make sure he is good to go for the playoffs.

Sale’s competition

Sale leads the American League in ERA (1.97), batting average against (.182), WHIP (0.85), and strikeout per 9 inning ratio (13.5). He started the All-Star game and has been carrying the loaded pitching staff of the best team in baseball.

As of right now, Sale’s biggest competitors are Blake Snell, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Corey Kluber. Snell was recently activated from the disabled list but is still probably Sale’s biggest competitor. He is currently 15-5 with a 2.07 ERA and has 160 strikeouts in 139 innings. His opponents are hitting just .182 against him and his WHIP is 1.01. The Tampa Bay Rays lefty was expected to be good this season, but nobody thought he’d be this good.

In his first season with Houston, Cole has been brilliant. The right-hander is 11-5 with a 2.73 ERA and has 226 strikeouts in 164.2 innings pitched.

Kluber and Verlander are former Cy Young award winners and it does not surprise many that they are having great years again. Kluber is 16-6 with a 2.74 ERA and has 166 strikeouts in 174.1 innings while Verlander is 12-8 with a 2.65 ERA and has 223 strikeouts in 169.2 innings pitched.

Sale deserves to finally get rewarded

This will be a very interesting race down the stretch. If Snell continues to dominate and keeps his ERA around where it is right now, he could have a serious case for the award. Kluber and Verlander will likely continue to dominate as they have done their whole careers.

A big part of the race will be how long Chris Sale is sidelined for with his injury. Sale missed just two weeks last time, but it is likely he will miss more time this time.

Unless Sale misses the rest of the season, he should still win the Cy Young. He has been the most dominant pitcher all season and has guided the best team in baseball to a historical season. In the games that he has pitched, he has been absolutely dominant. A 1.97 ERA with a 13.5 strikeout per nine inning ratio is insane. The other pitchers he is competing with have been great but have been nothing like Sale.

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It’s unfortunate that it has suddenly become a race again. Sale was the clear front-runner all season long and it looked like an injury was the only thing that was going to stop him from finally winning his Cy Young.

Chris Sale has been close too many times. This year, despite his injury, he deserves to finally get rewarded with the AL Cy Young.

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