The Boston Red Sox played their 100th game of the season Sunday. That’s a lot of baseball, but there is plenty more to go – more than two months remaining in the season, and another week to go until the nonwaiver trade deadline next Monday.

There’s still quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the Sox despite their first-place standing. The unexpected call up of 20-year old Rafael Devers is the latest reminder that this team is not a finished product.

Yet, with each passing day, one thing is clear: Chris Sale is Boston’s best starting pitcher since Pedro Martinez.

On Friday night, Sale became the first pitcher in baseball this season to strike out 200. He did it while “only” striking out nine Angels in six innings. We’ve come to expect double-digit strikeouts from him every time he takes the mound.

In 20 starts this season, Sale has delivered. No pitcher in baseball has more games with 10 or more strikeouts than Sale (13). In an age where teams cross their fingers for a quality start – six innings with three or fewer runs – Sale’s average of seven innings and two earned runs per start stands out.

Sale’s numbers speak for themselves. Good thing, because he has no interest in talking about his achievements.

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“It’s cool. I definitely appreciate it,” Sale told reporters in Anaheim. “I’m not the biggest fan of looking into stuff like that. Those things are for the offseason or maybe one day tell my grandkids. We still have a lot of work to do. Don’t want to get caught up in stuff like that.”

While the Sox arrived in Seattle with a 21/2-game lead in the American League East, they have been maddeningly inconsistent this season. The Patriots are about to open training camp, so it’d be easy to move on and wait to see if this team is worth your attention in the fall.

Doing so would mean missing a historic run by Sale. The Red Sox record for strikeouts in a season is 313, set by Martinez in 1999. It’s not out of Sale’s reach.

That’s why Pedro himself wants you to realize how special Sale’s season is. The Hall of Famer took to social media in early May to tell the world how impressed he is.

“Chris Sale is already surpassing everything I’ve done,” Martinez said on Twitter.

Sale is a throwback to a time when starters tried to go the distance. He is tied with Clayton Kershaw for the major league lead in innings pitched with 1411/3.

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On June 20, Sale pitched into the ninth inning vs. Kansas City. He gave up a home run and was taken out of the game after retiring one batter in the ninth. He was visibly upset, even though it was his longest start of the season.

He was asked why he was that angry, despite pitching into the ninth.

“I’ll never settle,” Sale said. “When you start to settle you get complacent, and when you get complacent you suck.”

It was the type of quote that wins fans over. Not that Sale needed the help. He’s been winning us over every fifth day since the start of the year. His starts have become must-see events.

Just like the starts Martinez made at the start of the century.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.


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