Few baseball elitists would liken Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale to Los Angeles Dodgers icon Sandy Koufax.

Yet.

A 16-year veteran, Sale has mostly proved dominant.

Koufax remains legendary.

But look at the two left-handers’ career statistics.

They remain similar.

So much so, Sale should be considered a future first- or second-year ballot Hall of Famer.

Chris Sale producing Sandy Koufax-like stats

Appearing in his 314th MLB game despite being slowed by illness, Sale (2-0) yielded one run on one hit over six innings Wednesday, propelling the Braves to a 5-1 win over the Athletics at Truist Park.

“He was sick as a dog,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said, as reported by ESPN. “We didn’t even know if he was going to be able to make that start. I was hoping to get three innings out of him. In the best-case scenario, maybe four.”

Pitching with less velocity than normal, Sale provided six and only allowed a home run by A’s slugger Shea Langeliers, a shot that barely cleared the left-field wall.

Sale didn’t mention his illness during a post-game press conference.

“You’re not going to have your best stuff every time,” said Sale, who turned 37 years old earlier in the week.

His 314th start was significant in that it matched Koufax’s Hall of Fame total.  

When analyzing his career against Koufax’s, Sale earned better marks in a few interesting categories, including WAR (57.9-48.9), strikeouts (2,588-2,396) and All-Star Game appearances (9-7).

Koufax topped Sale in ERA titles (5-1), World Series MVPs (2-0) and Cy Young awards (3-1).

Most purists wouldn’t compare Sale’s career to Koufax’s.

Perhaps they should.