Chris Sale leads Shohei Ohtani in pitching WAR this season, 5.48 to 3.06
Sale's larger workload (157 innings to Ohtani's 85⅔) outweighs Ohtani's slightly better ERA and WHIP, giving Sale the edge in pitching WAR so far this season.
Published: · Figures as of September 12, 2026
Asked: Who's had the more valuable pitching season so far: Chris Sale or Shohei Ohtani?
Sale has been the more valuable pitcher this season — 5.48 WAR to Ohtani's 3.06
Nearly two full wins above replacement separates them, and it's mostly a volume story rather than a quality one: Sale has thrown 157 innings to Ohtani's 85⅔, almost twice the workload, at a still-excellent 2.18 ERA. Ohtani's rate numbers are actually a touch better per inning, but he simply hasn't logged enough of them to match Sale's total contribution.
The rate stats favor Ohtani, the bulk stats favor Sale:
| Chris Sale (ATL) | Shohei Ohtani (LAD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Innings pitched | 157.0 | 85.7 |
| ERA | 2.18 | 1.79 |
| WHIP | 0.99 | 0.95 |
| K/9 | 10.89 | 9.98 |
| BB/9 | 1.78 | 2.73 |
| W-L | 14-9 | 8-2 |
| Pitching WAR | 5.48 | 3.06 |
| Pitcher | Pitching WAR (WAR) |
|---|---|
| Sale | 5.48 |
| Ohtani | 3.06 |
Ohtani edges Sale on ERA (1.79 to 2.18) and WHIP (0.95 to 0.99), and the strikeout rates are close (9.98 to 10.89 per nine). But Sale throws strikes far more consistently — 1.78 walks per nine against Ohtani's 2.73 — and the innings gap is the whole story for value: 71⅓ more innings at a still-strong ERA is a lot of extra value that a rate stat alone won't show.
One more thing worth knowing before this gets any more one-sided: Ohtani was placed on the injured list on September 11 with left biceps inflammation, with a return timeline of September 26. That's a pitching-relevant injury for a two-way player, and it means his pitching innings are frozen at 85⅔ for at least the rest of that window while Sale keeps adding to his total.
Confidence: High on the value gap as measured by WAR and workload; the ERA/WHIP edge for Ohtani is real but is being outweighed by innings, which is exactly what a wins-above-replacement framework is built to capture.