Chris Sale is known for his wicked slider. Javy Baez can attest to how dangerous it is.
Sale pitched five innings and picked up the win in his Boston Red Sox’s 12-5 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night. Baez actually walked and singled in his first two at-bats against Sale. But his third at-bat was a different story.
Sale had the Mets infielder 2-2 and then threw a slider that fooled Baez so badly that the second baseman swung at it despite it hitting him.
Chris Sale's slider is just not fair.
(MLB x @HankookTireUSA) pic.twitter.com/fiS4U1yhhl
— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2021
Did you see how much that pitch broke? Goodness gracious.
That was one of the four swing-and-misses Sale recorded with his slider in the outing.
Red Sox's Chris Sale threw 48 four-seam fastballs, averaging 93.8 mph and topping out at 96.8 mph, per Baseball Savant. He recorded eight swings-and-misses with the fastball, four with his slider and three with his changeup.
— Christopher 'Smitty' Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) September 23, 2021
Overall, Sale allowed two runs on six hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out eight and is now 5-0 since returning this season.
His slider remains elite.
#RedSox Chris Sale
2021 Slider Quality
4.48 QOPA (Top 15% MLB)
Late Break (Top 7%)
Location (Top 13%)
Horizontal Break (Top 18%)#DirtyWater #MakeItMajor pic.twitter.com/i8xdZTJNsa— MLB Quality of Pitch (@qopbaseball) September 22, 2021
