The Braves traded seven-time All-Star Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for their biggest offseason acquisition.
Mixed reviews were received for the move. On the one hand, Chris Sale still has electric stuff, especially as he gets closer to 35 years old. With a strikeout percentage of 29.4% in 102.2 innings last year, Sale recorded an 11.0 K/9, barely behind his lifetime average of 30.5%. He now holds the record for the greatest K/9 in MLB history at 11.1. Chris Sale is still relevant, but in 2024, it would be impossible to discuss him without bringing up his injury history.
Since 2018, sales haven’t been particularly good. He has had numerous ailments since then, including Tommy John surgery.
But he believes he’s coming into the season 100% for the first time in years.
Since 2018, this is the first offseason Sale has gone into without having to deal with anything, he remarked. It has been a while. It was enjoyable. This offseason, I had a great time playing baseball and doing things that I haven’t been able to do. I was supposed to throw 20 bullpens here early in the spring, but I ended up throwing 33–34, and I felt like I couldn’t handle it.
Chris Sale has shown nothing but positive indicators since joining the Braves. People in the organization are already raving about his contagious charisma and the fact that he is healthy for the first time in years. It fits perfectly, in my opinion.
Chris Sale is most likely to enter the game and start for the Braves in the middle of the rotation. He doesn’t have to be the ace he previously was for the whole season for Atlanta to benefit. With or without him, they have the horses to win the division. The postseason, where the Braves have suffered greatly since winning the World Series in 2021, is where his value really shines.
Having saying that, Sale is the most formidable rival. He isn’t seeing it that way this season. The finest Chris Sale is still one of the top pitchers in baseball, and he wants to be the best version of himself. If, when the season is almost over, we discover that he was the Braves’ best starting pitcher, don’t be shocked.
