May 23, 2014: Sale of the Century

$27.  That’s how much I paid for Chris Sale in our fantasy baseball auction draft.  It took a lot for me to draft someone from the White Sox.  Normally, there is nobody from the White Sox on my team.  This year was the exception.  To get a pitcher like Sale at that price, I just could not pass it up.  When he is healthy, he is one of the best pitchers in the majors.

Yesterday, he returned from the DL, and threw six 1-hit innings as the Sox held on in the 9th to win 3-2 over the Yankees.  Oh, he had 10Ks by the way too.  He had a perfect game going until the 6th inning, his last inning, when he gave up his only hit.  With his tall, lanky build & awkward delivery, he brings some nasty stuff to the plate.  In fact, if he was healthy, he may lead the majors in wins, if the Sox gave him the run support they provided the other starting pitchers.  In the past, Sale would get zero run support, and in turn, his record suffered.  It kind of reminds me of someone from the Cubs this year…

The key for Sale, and most great pitchers, is staying healthy.  How many pitchers have gone for Tommy John surgery this year?  It has to be at least a dozen, and young guns too, like Matt Harvey & Jose Fernandez.  I think these guys are getting burned out by pitching year round in their early years.  They probably were also all throwing curveballs under the age of 10, which will wreck an arm too.  I just wonder how Sale will fare the rest of the year.  I’m sure he was one of those all year round guys, like most of the pitchers that make it to the majors are.  With his unique delivery, I think it’s just asking for trouble, but I could be wrong.  Mark Prior had a textbook delivery, and looked what happened to him.  To get to the bottom of why all these pitchers are getting hurt is an important task.  To change the behavior that got them there, is even more critical, and will prove to be beneficial to any & all major league clubs investing big money over many years in these young arms.

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How is his arm?  Is he bound for Tommy John surgery too?  Well, maybe playing football helped him, since he wasn’t throwing as much as the guys who were playing baseball year round.  Who knows?  What I do know, is that the Cubs should sign him.  We need to start getting our rotation in order, both short term and long term.  Signing Samardzija accomplishes that.  Is he a true #1 pitcher?  That can be debated, but with the lowest ERA in the majors, I’m not sure what else he can do at this point to prove his side of the case.  Pay the man his money.  Hopefully he still wants to stay with the Cubs.

With 2 bright stars in the pitching staff on either side of town, it gives us fans some hope.  With the Sox winners of 3 out of their last 4, and the Cubs winners of 4 out of their last 5, we may have something to bridge that gap to football season.  Don’t think either team is equipped to win this year, but soon.  Sox fans pray that Sale stays healthy for the sake of the future.  Meanwhile, Cub fans should pray that we sign Samardzija: that may very well turn out to be the sale of the century.