Braves' Chris Sale Makes Franchise History With 200th Strikeout of Season

A major bounce back season for the southpaw.

Sale smiles after catching a line drive during the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Chris Sale is enjoying a bounce back season in 2024, having joined the Atlanta Braves to pitch in the National League for the first time in his career.

After struggling with injuries throughout much of the last few seasons and making a total of 31 starts from 2020 to 2023, Sale has been arguably MLB's most dominant pitcher this year. Not only will Sale be a NL Cy Young candidate, but he managed to set Braves' franchise history during his outing on Tuesday.

In the third inning of Atlanta's clash against the Colorado Rockies, Sale sat down Drew Romo for his third strikeout of the evening. In doing so, he reached 200 strikeouts on the year and became the first left-handed pitcher in Braves' history to strike out as many batters in a single season.

Chris Sale is the first lefty to record 200 Ks in a season in franchise history!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/GDt09OZZOB

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 3, 2024

It's far from the first time that Sale has struck out 200 batters in a season, but he hasn't achieved the statistical milestone since 2019. Prior to his laundry list of injuries, Sale had racked up 200+ strikeouts in each season from 2013-19, including 308 punch-outs in 2017.

He's returned to his previous form in 2024 with the Braves, and looks better than ever during his age 35 season.

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