Chris Sale etched his name into the record books on Thursday, becoming the fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,500 career strikeouts. The Atlanta Braves left-hander achieved the milestone during a 9–3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, needing just 2,026 innings to hit the mark — a feat no one before him has matched so quickly.
Sale surpassed some of the game’s greatest strikeout artists, outpacing Randy Johnson (2,107.2 innings), Pedro Martinez (2,152.2), Max Scherzer (2,155.1), Nolan Ryan (2,286.1), and Clayton Kershaw (2,306) to reach the milestone.
Chris Sale added another remarkable milestone to his career on Thursday, becoming the fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,500 career strikeouts. The Atlanta Braves left-hander accomplished the feat during a 9–3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, needing just 2,026 innings to reach the mark — faster than legends like Randy Johnson (2,107.2), Pedro Martinez (2,152.2), Max Scherzer (2,155.1), Nolan Ryan (2,286.1), and Clayton Kershaw (2,306).
Sale joins an elite group of active pitchers with 2,500 or more strikeouts, alongside Scherzer, Kershaw, and Justin Verlander. But this record is one the Chicago White Sox can proudly celebrate as well. Nearly half of Sale’s punchouts — 1,244 of them — came in a White Sox uniform from 2010 to 2016.
Drafted 13th overall in 2010 out of Florida Gulf Coast University, Sale quickly ascended to the majors, making just 11 minor league appearances before debuting later that season. He started as a reliever before moving into the rotation in 2012 and became a workhorse, tossing at least 174 innings in five straight seasons — three of those topping 200. He led the American League in strikeouts in 2015 with 274.
The White Sox traded Sale to the Boston Red Sox before the 2017 season in a blockbuster deal that brought back top prospects Yoán Moncada and Michael Kopech. Sale’s time in Boston, while productive, was plagued by injuries that limited him to just 115 starts over six seasons — a major reason why he didn’t reach the 2,500 mark even sooner.
Now 36, Sale has found a resurgence in Atlanta. After being dealt to the Braves before the 2024 season, he delivered a dominant campaign, going 18–3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings to win his first Cy Young Award.
With 2,500 strikeouts, Sale now ranks 40th on the all-time list. If he reaches 3,000, he’ll pass several legends of the game, including eight Hall of Famers like Cy Young, Tom Glavine, Bob Feller, and Christy Mathewson. Kershaw, sitting at 2,974, is on track to be the next to join that exclusive club.
Of the top 21 strikeout leaders in history, 15 are in the Hall of Fame. Scherzer, Verlander, and Kershaw are widely expected to be first-ballot inductees, with Zack Greinke also in the conversation. The only two in that group not enshrined — Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling — remain Hall of Fame controversies.
Should Sale one day earn a place in Cooperstown, the Chicago White Sox — the team where his brilliance first blossomed — will rightly appear first on his plaque.
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