Fansided

Picking an All-Decade MLB team for the 2010s

By Joshua Sadlock

TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TEXAS – MAY 24: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on May 24, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

Starting pitcher: Chris Sale

Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale ended the twenty-tens with a whimper, recording his worst season in the big leagues. Even so, the 30-year-old did more than enough to lock down his place on this all-decade team. Prior to the 2019 season, Sale had recorded five straight top-five finishes in the AL Cy Young vote. The side-winding, thin southpaw is the closest thing we have to Randy Johnson in the league right now.

Standing 6-foot-6 and all arms and legs with a wild-eyed glare from beneath the brim of his cap, Sale is an incredibly intimidating figure on the mound. He made his initial debut in the league as a reliever with the Chicago White Sox in 2010 before transitioning to the rotation two years later. In ten years in the league, Sale is 109-73 with a 3.03 ERA and has struck out an MLB-record 5.37 batters for every walk issued.

Sale has come close to winning the Cy Young, but has never quite sealed the deal. His two best chances were scuttled by Indians ace Corey Kluber. Sale, however, has done just a little bit more than Kluber to lock down a place in the all-decade rotation. Kluber did not fully establish himself as a star until 2014.

On a given night, Sale is a near lock to reach double digits in strikeouts. Armed with his deadly slider, he has held left-handed hitters to a .203/.257/.273 career line with over 30 percent of their plate appearances ending in a strikeout and a home run roughly every 100 trips to the plate. Sale limped through the worst season of his career in 2019 and has to prove he is healthy after making only 27 starts in 2018.

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