Clayton Kershaw

[the 'stache]

Really? You're holding up Sale's 9-0 record as proof that he's somehow better than Clayton Kershaw? You want to go there?

First, the statement about Sale not facing pitchers is really irrelevant, at least as far as 2016 is concerned. The National League is actually scoring more runs per game than the American League. It's not a big gap, but Kershaw is not realizing any benefit there. BTW, Kershaw has 27 career starts against American League teams--185 innings pitched. He has a 2.28 career ERA against teams with a DH.

Ok, let's look at this season for Sale and Kershaw.

ERA
Sale 1.58
Kershaw 1.67
Very slight edge to Sale.

Strikeouts
Sale 62 in 68.1 IP; 8.2 K/9 IP
Kershaw 88 in 70 IP; 11.3 K/9 IP
Huge edge to Kershaw

Walks
Sale 10 in 68.1 IP; 1.3 BB/9 IP
Kershaw 4 in 70 IP; 0.5 BB/9 IP
edge to Kershaw

WHIP
Sale 0.717
Kershaw 0.700
slight edge to Kershaw

FIP
Sale 2.81
Kershaw 1.36
LOL, not even close. Sale's FIP is more than double Kershaw's

Hits
Sale 5.1 H/9 IP
Kershaw 5.8 H/9 IP
edge her to Sale

Home runs
Sale 0.7 HR/9 IP
Kershaw 0.4 HR/9 IP
edge here to Kershaw

Strikeout to walk ratio
Sale 6.20
Kershaw 22.0
not even close

So, outside of the win loss record, where's Sale's advantage? Kershaw is 6-1, Sale is 9-0. Kershaw pitched 8 innings at Atlanta against the Braves, and gave up 2 runs. Got no run support. He also pitched 8 innings at San Franciso against the Giants, gave up 1 run. Got no run support. The difference between Sale's 9-0 record, and Kershaw being 8-1, is a matter of run support. Nothing else. FIP, which accounts for the things that pitchers alone can control, shows Kershaw is running circles around Sale.

Now, shall we compare Kershaw to Sale since Sale became a full-time player in 2011?

Win-loss
Sale 64-39 (.621)
Kershaw 94-34 (.734)
But let's forget win-loss records, shall we?

ERA
Sale 2.84
Kershaw 2.09

ERA +
Sale 142
Kershaw 175

shutouts
Sale 2
Kershaw 13

FIP
Sale 2.95
Kershaw 2.27

WHIP
Sale 1.046
Kershaw 0.919

Hit batters
Sale 49 in 928.1 IP
Kershaw 19 in 1198.0 IP

Hits/Home Runs/Walks/Strikeouts per 9 IP
Sale 7.3 H/0.9 HR/2.1 BB/10.1 K
Kershaw 6.4 H/0.5 HR/1.8 BB/10.0 K

Awards
Sale 4 x All Star
Kershaw 5 x All Star

MVP Awards
Sale 0
Kershaw 1

Cy Young Awards
Sale 0
Kershaw 3

Gold Gloves
Sale 0
Kershaw 1

Number of times leading the league in various statistical categories

Wins
Sale 0
Kershaw 2

ERA
Sale 0
Kershaw 4

Strikeouts
Sale 1
Kershaw 3

ERA +
Sale 1
Kershaw 3

WHIP
Sale 0
Kershaw 4

FIP
Sale 0
Kershaw 2

And, last but not least, a few metrics

WPA (win probability added-number of wins or losses this player has added to their team)
Sale 19.1
Kershaw 31.7

Black Ink (average Hall of Famer has a 40)
Sale 20
Kershaw 69

Gray Ink (average Hall of Famer has a 185)
Sale 89
Kershaw 158

Hall of Fame Monitor (average Hall of Famer has a 100)
Sale 30
Kershaw 120

Hall of Fame Standards (average Hall of Famer has a 50)
Sale 30
Kershaw 44

Oh, and most similar to at this point in their careers
Sale at age 26 Stephen Strasburg
Kershaw at age 27 Tom Seaver

So, you know what? Chris Sale is a very good pitcher. Nobody here denies that. But he's not in Clayton Kershaw's league, at least thus far, and only you can't seem to see that.

Originally Posted by Joshchisox08

Sale 9-0
doesn't face pitchers
But we're still talking about Kershaw................


Wonder what it would be like if Sale had been on a good team like Kershaw has most of his career. And then the whole pitching against a pitcher thing.