Head to head · 2026 Wild Card Series pitching
Chris Sale vs Zack Wheeler
In 2026 Chris Sale has been worth 1.9 more wins. Both lines are computed from play-by-play on the same constants, so they are measured the same way rather than quoted from two sources.
- Opponents in the 2026 Wild Card Series, where the Atlanta Braves won 2-1 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
- Both among the 25 most valuable pitchers of 2026 by dbWAR.
- Both near the front of the 2026 NL Cy Young race: among the league's 8 most valuable pitchers by dbWAR.
- Their 2025 seasons were among each other's nearest on rate statistics.
- Two of the 25 most valuable pitching careers on this site, 2005–2026, by dbWAR.
Postseason
Box-score figures only: October is kept out of the season constants, so there is no wOBA, FIP or dbWAR for it.
| Statistic | Chris Sale | Zack Wheeler |
|---|---|---|
| G | 2 | 1 |
| GS | 1 | 0 |
| IP | 7.2 | 4.0 |
| W | 0 | 0 |
| SV | 0 | 0 |
| SO | 12 | 3 |
| BB | 1 | 3 |
| ERA | 3.52 | 4.50 |
| WHIP | 0.78 | 1.50 |
| K/9 | 14.1 | 6.8 |
| BB/9 | 1.2 | 6.8 |
| Statistic | Chris Sale | Zack Wheeler |
|---|---|---|
| G | 13 | 13 |
| GS | 9 | 11 |
| IP | 46.2 | 74.1 |
| W | 1 | 4 |
| SV | 0 | 0 |
| SO | 66 | 80 |
| BB | 14 | 17 |
| ERA | 5.79 | 2.30 |
| WHIP | 1.33 | 0.77 |
| K/9 | 12.7 | 9.7 |
| BB/9 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
2026 season
| Statistic | Chris Sale | Zack Wheeler |
|---|---|---|
| G | 27 | 28 |
| GS | 27 | 28 |
| IP | 162.2 | 162.0 |
| W | 14 | 14 |
| SO | 200 | 193 |
| ERA | 2.16 | 3.00 |
| FIP | 2.29 | 3.35 |
| WHIP | 0.98 | 1.05 |
| K/9 | 11.1 | 10.7 |
| BB/9 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| FIP− | 55 | 80 |
| WAR | 5.6 | 3.7 |
Career
Totalled over the seasons published here, which is not the same as a whole career: a player who debuted before 2005 begins at 2005, not at his real first game.
| Statistic | Chris Sale | Zack Wheeler |
|---|---|---|
| G | 420 | 311 |
| GS | 339 | 311 |
| IP | 2,246.2 | 1,890.1 |
| W | 159 | 127 |
| L | 97 | 80 |
| SV | 12 | 0 |
| SO | 2,779 | 2,013 |
| BB | 518 | 537 |
| ERA | 2.95 | 3.26 |
| WHIP | 1.04 | 1.13 |
| K/9 | 11.1 | 9.6 |
| BB/9 | 2.1 | 2.6 |
| HR/9 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| WAR | 60.0 | 41.3 |
More head to heads
The same seasons, measured against somebody else.
FIP uses the constant solved from this season’s own runs, and FIP− is park-adjusted against the same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page. To put these two beside a third, the comparison page takes up to four.