1. Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox
From Opening Day to July 31, Chris Sale was 13-4 with a 2.37 ERA and 211 strikeouts in 148.1 innings across 21 starts. He built a huge lead in Wins Above Replacement and was the runaway favorite to win his first AL Cy Young Award. But August was a different story.
On Aug. 1, Sale allowed seven runs on eight hits in just five innings of work against Cleveland. It was the shortest outing of the season for the 28-year-old lefty, and marked the most runs allowed in a game for Sale in a Red Sox uniform. He responded with eight shutout innings against the Rays in his next start – one of his best of the season – and then surrendered just one run in seven strong innings against the Yankees Aug. 13. However, he was roughed up in his next two starts, taking back-to-back losses to New York and Cleveland. After he allowed seven runs (six earned) to the Tribe Aug. 24, Sale’s lead in the AL Cy Young race thinned considerably.
Nevertheless, Sale was his vintage, dominant self Tuesday night in Toronto, and improved his record to 15-6 while lowering his ERA to 2.77, which ranks fifth in the majors and second in the AL behind Kluber among qualified starters. He increased his major league leading strikeout total to 264, and improved his WHIP to 0.91 and his batting average allowed to .197, both of which rank in the top four in the majors.
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And while his traditional statistics are on par, or slightly behind Kluber’s, the analytical leaderboard loves Sale. He leads all MLB qualified starters in FIP (2.00) and FIP- (46) by a wide margin, and also leads the big leagues in SIERA (2.54), K/9 (12.82), strikeout rate (36.3 percent) and K-BB% (31.5 percent). Sale ranks second in xFIP (2.66), xFIP- (60) and fifth in ERA- (61).