Chris Sale has chance to cement a Hall of Fame resume in Atlanta

Chris Sale is a borderline Hall of Fame case

At one point, Sale was on a no-doubt Hall of Fame trajectory. That isn't the case anymore, largely due to injuries, but there's still an excellent argument to make for him.

A nine-time All-Star, Sale began his career with the Chicago White Sox, debuting in 2010 at the age of 21. 2012 would be his first season as a starting pitcher. Immediately, he was a star and made his first All-Star team. That was the first of seven in a row. 

That also marked a run of seven straight seasons where he received Cy Young votes. He also earned MVP votes in four of those seasons. It was during that run when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox ahead of the 2017 season. 

In Boston, Sale had two of his best seasons. That included the 2018 season, which saw him pitch to a 6.5 WAR, a 2.11 ERA, 237 strikeouts and a World Series win. He even recorded the final out of the World Series, striking out Manny Machado of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Some of his counting numbers had gone down from 2017, though, when he threw 308 strikeouts, because he played in five fewer games. Shoulder inflammation had sidelined him. That was a bad harbinger of things to come in Boston.

In 2019, Sale would pitch just 25 games. Left elbow inflammation would eventually require Tommy John surgery. 2020 and most of 2021 were lost. 

The injuries only continued for Sale. There was the right rib stress fracture. Then, a line drive hit him in the finger, forcing him into surgery. While rehabbing, he fell off his bike, breaking his wrist. Finally, in 2023, a stress reaction in his scapula forced him on the 60-Day IL once again. 

In total, Sale pitched in just 56 games for the Red Sox from 2019 through the 2023 season. That was just 296.7 innings. At one point, he had pitched 226.2 innings in a single season. Effectively, his age 30 to 34 seasons were lost and, seemingly, his Hall of Fame chances with them.

Chris Sale found himself in Atlanta

Prior to the 2024 season, Boston traded Sale to Atlanta. Both needed to reset, and Sale did so in a miraculous way. He stayed healthy for 29 starts, struck out 225 batters and won the Cy Young. His first was a major milestone toward the Hall of Fame. 

Now, Sale knows he'll be in Atlanta for the foreseeable future. There, if he can stay healthy, he has the chance to finish his career strong and make voters remember the best of him, not the injuries.