Chris Sale Named AL Pitcher Of The Month

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jun 4, 2012 6:20PM

Why are the supposedly rebuilding White Sox in first place? A big part of their success has come from the mound. For the second straight month, the South Siders have collected the AL Pitcher of the Month award. Chris Sale took home the honors for May, following Peavy's award in April.

Sale went 4-1 last month with a 1.71 ERA while striking out 35. Opponents hit just .181 against the lefty. And all this in a month that saw the youngster briefly shifted to the bullpen because of a bout of elbow tenderness. Following one relief appearance, Sale convinced manager Robin Ventura and pitching coach Don Cooper to return him to the rotation. Allowing one run or fewer in 4 of his five starts, Sale capped the month with a 3-hit, 15 strikeout performance against the Tampa Bay Rays.

On the season, Sale leads the AL with a 2.30 ERA. On the day he was named the league's top hurler for May, he continued to perform as he has all season, tossing a complete game in the Sox 4-2 victory over Seattle, running his record to 7-2 and placing him atop the leader board for AL wins, too.

But concerns remain about the young pitcher, who is in his first season as a starting pitcher in the big leagues, and keeping his arm healthy. Mindful of his innings, the Sox may find ways to give him some extra rest between starts. With 136 innings of work the most he's ever pitched in a season, the team will be careful not to push him too close to the 200 innings starters often eclipse. One possible way would be to bump him to the back of the rotation coming out of the All-Star break. Even if he make the team, the inning of work would be similar to his brief bullpen stint in early May. Still, with as well as Sale has pitched, it'll be hard for Ventura not to have the southpaw out there as often as possible.