Pitchers and batters in Major League Baseball are often judged by their statistics to determine how good they are.
Typically, pitchers are judged by their win/loss record and earned run average, and batters are judged by their batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
One statistic pitchers and batters have in common is WAR, which stands for wins above replacement.
According to Baseball Reference on ‘X,’ Chris Sale leads the National League in WAR with a rating of 6.3.
2024 NL Pitching WAR Leaders
Chris Sale (6.3)
Hunter Greene (5.7)
Paul Skenes (5.5)
Zack Wheeler (5.0)All Leaders: https://t.co/zcQYcEso1M pic.twitter.com/iggJoHypL1
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 17, 2024
Sale is a starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves and is having an incredible year for a team who seems to constantly be battling injuries this season.
To go along with his WAR rating, Sale also has a record of 17 wins and 3 losses with a 2.35 earned run average and 219 strikeouts in 172.2 innings pitched.
The Braves have made the playoffs each of the last 6 seasons, but they are in danger of missing the postseason this year.
With a record of 81 wins and 69 losses, the Braves sit 1 game back of the New York Mets for the last wild-card spot in the National League.
Sale holds a sizeable lead over other big-name pitchers in the WAR statistic including Hunter Greene, Paul Skenes, and Zach Wheeler.
WAR is arguably the best statistic to use when judging how valuable a player is to their team.
That being said, there is no argument that Sale has found his stuff again after a few injury-plagued seasons.
He will look to continue his amazing season on Thursday where he is scheduled to pitch against the Cincinnati Reds.
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