Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Florida Gulf Coast junior left-hander Chris Sale can run his fastball into the mid-90s, baffle hitters with an excellent changeup and put away lefties with an improving slider. He ranked among the national leaders in ERA and strikeouts as a sophomore last spring, then earned pitcher of the year honors in the Cape Cod League last summer, ranking as the prestigious league's No. 1 prospect.

Imagine how good he can be when he fills out his 6-foot-6 frame.

"He's still skinny," Florida Gulf Coast coach Dave Tollett said. "He's 180 [pounds] now -- what's he going to be when he's 205 or 210? He's that good now, but the projectability of him, I'm like, 'Holy smokes, this kid's off the chart.'"

Friday against Mercer, Sale did what he's done all season: He dominated. Sale tied his season and career highs with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and a walk in FGCU's 9-1 win. He threw just 112 pitches -- impressive efficiency considering he struck out 14 over eight innings.

"He had pretty good stuff," Tollett said. "His changeup and breaking ball were real good. It seems that teams are looking to hit the fastballs, so he's having to pitch. Teams are gearing up to hit the fastballs. Without question, I think his slider has become a plus pitch also, along with the changeup. It's anywhere between 80-83, so I would call it a power slider. The changeup is still the putaway pitch, but the slider has become so effective against left-handed hitters. It's been pretty good."