Manny Machado vs Chris Sale

The Almanac's Take

Machado gets the platoon edge against Sale as a right-handed bat facing a lefty, but this is a tough draw regardless — Sale's 1.98 ERA and 10.3 K/9 over 100 innings this season make him one of the hardest arms in baseball to do anything against. Machado's .204/.299/.431 line is power-skewed; the 22 home runs are real, but a .204 average and 22.1% strikeout rate against a pitcher with a 5.23 K/BB ratio is a rough combo. The 31-PA head-to-head (.370, 10-for-27) is too small to lean on as anything beyond a footnote, though a 92.1 mph average exit velocity there suggests he's at least making hard contact when he connects.

Career head-to-head

AVG

.370

10-for-27

PA

31

HR

1

K

7

BB

4

Pitches seen

136

Avg exit velo

92.1 mph

Career meetings in the Statcast era (2015–present). Even a clear edge over a handful of plate appearances is a small sample — read it as color, not a projection.

Pitch mix to the batter

Plate-appearance log

• 2025-05-23Fielders Choice Out · Slider 83.9 mph · 76.0 mph EV
• 2025-05-23Field Out · Slider 79.4 mph · 72.4 mph EV
• 2025-05-23Single · 4-Seam Fastball 97.3 mph · 109.9 mph EV
• 2025-03-27Strikeout · Slider 82.6 mph
• 2025-03-27Double · Slider 76.6 mph · 85.2 mph EV
• 2025-03-27Walk · Slider 77.1 mph
• 2024-07-14Walk · Slider 80.2 mph
• 2024-07-14Single · Sinker 94.3 mph · 106.0 mph EV
• 2024-05-20Field Out · Slider 78.5 mph · 88.9 mph EV
• 2024-05-20Strikeout · Slider 79.6 mph
• 2024-05-20Single · 4-Seam Fastball 91.6 mph · 108.2 mph EV
• 2018-10-28Strikeout · Slider 84.0 mph
• 2018-10-23Single · Changeup 87.6 mph · 87.6 mph EV
• 2018-10-23Field Out · Slider 80.4 mph · 78.0 mph EV
• 2018-06-13Field Out · Slider 82.9 mph · 73.3 mph EV
• 2018-06-13Field Out · Slider 80.5 mph · 78.0 mph EV
• 2018-06-13Field Out · Slider 82.7 mph · 104.8 mph EV
• 2018-04-15Field Out · Slider 79.0 mph · 75.1 mph EV
• 2018-04-15Double · Changeup 84.7 mph · 93.0 mph EV
• 2017-06-04Double · 4-Seam Fastball 97.5 mph · 107.1 mph EV
• 2017-06-04Field Out · Sinker 90.5 mph · 85.4 mph EV
• 2017-06-04Walk · Changeup 88.9 mph
• 2017-05-02Home Run · 4-Seam Fastball 93.5 mph · 110.4 mph EV
• 2017-05-02Strikeout · Slider 83.1 mph
• 2017-05-02Strikeout · 4-Seam Fastball 97.9 mph
• 2016-05-01Walk · Sinker 94.5 mph
• 2016-05-01Single · Sinker 91.6 mph · 108.5 mph EV
• 2016-05-01Single · Slider 77.3 mph · 92.7 mph EV
• 2015-05-28Strikeout · Slider 78.7 mph
• 2015-05-28Field Out · Sinker 93.4 mph · 100.6 mph EV
• 2015-05-28Strikeout · Sinker 96.5 mph