Chris Sale has been arguably the toughest pitcher to hit this season, and one awesome GIF goes a long way towards showing why.
This GIF began circulating on Saturday. It shows an overlay of Sale throwing a fastball and a slider. If you watch carefully, you’ll notice that his arm slot, body, leg kick and delivery are nearly identical.
Chris Sale's slider + fastball overlaid. Exact same motion. Exact same arm slot. Unfairly different result pic.twitter.com/Tnl7ztW71l
— Ozzie (@OldComiskey) July 1, 2017
Some pitchers may have a slightly different arm slot or motion when throwing different pitches, such as their off speed stuff, which can tip hitters off. But not Sale.
The southpaw is dominating in his first season with Boston. He is 11-3 with a 2.61 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 166 strikeouts in 120.2 innings this season. That represents the highest strikeouts per nine innings rate of his career. GIFs like this help show why.
