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Historic Chris Sale Announcement Made on Thursday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nate Lunak | Last updated May 29, 2025 10:54 PM ET

There's no doubt that the Atlanta Braves have faced some serious struggles so far this season, as they currently have a 26-29 record, which puts them in third place in the NL East.

That doesn't mean they lack talent, though, as they have a number of great players, including starting pitcher Chris Sale, who has started 12 games this year, tossing 67.2 innings, allowing a 3.06 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

At 36 years old, the left-hander continues to etch his name into the history books because, while the Braves were facing off against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night, MLB announced he'd recorded his 2,500th career strikeout.

There's no arguing that it's an impressive achievement, and what enhances it even more is that he became the fastest player in MLB history to do so, as he's pitched a total of just 2,026 innings.

Chris Sale joins Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw as the only active pitchers with 2,500 Ks! pic.twitter.com/yrjiWP3CJD
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2025

Sale now becomes just the 40th player in MLB to reach that mark, while the next closest player is New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole at 2,251.

Of course, this only adds to some already amazing career numbers for the 15-year veteran, which include an ERA of 3.04, a 1.05 WHIP, an opponent batting average of .220 and an opponent OPS of just .632

Sale's performance on the field has led to several personal accolades, including making eight All-Star appearances, winning the Cy Young Award for the Braves in 2024 and finishing in the top six of the voting in seven other seasons.

With all of this combined, it will remain to be seen if he is one day enshrined in Cooperstown with many other all-time greats, as an article from MLB.com's Mike Petriello claims Sale is a "borderline" Hall of Fame player.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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