SAN DIEGO — Chris Sale will bring his best against the best on Tuesday as he has been named the American League’s starting pitcher for the All-Star Game.
A five-time All-Star, the White Sox pitcher was named the starter by AL manager Ned Yost on Monday morning. Sale is 14-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts this season. He leads all of baseball in victories and leads the AL with 125 innings pitched and three complete games.
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"Last year, in the All-Star Game, I wanted to start Chris, but he had just come off a Saturday start where he threw [115] pitches against the Chicago Cubs and decided that wouldn't be the best thing for Chris' arm," Yost said. "He's ready to go this year. We're excited. For me, it was a real easy choice.
"Chris being in my division, I've had a chance to watch him really develop into a superstar pitcher. I remember the first time I saw him throwing a 99 mph fastball and a nasty, nasty slider and watched him evolve into an even better pitcher now because he's developed a phenomenal changeup to go along with that nasty fastball and that slider.
"We're excited to have Chris start for us. We're looking forward to tomorrow night and hopefully getting homefield advantage for the American League once again."
Sale didn’t appear in the 2015 All-Star Game. But he pitched in the exhibition in the three previous years, earning a victory with two scoreless innings in the 2013 contest at Citi Field in New York.
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"What an honor," Sale said. "I can't really put into words what this means. To be able to start this game; I know what it means and I know how much fun I've had in the past, so just try to go out there with some energy and just start the game off on the right foot for the guys."
The last White Sox pitcher to start an All-Star Game was Mark Buehrle in 2005. Esteban Loaiza started the 2003 Midsummer Classic, which took place at U.S. Cellular Field.