After more than two months on the injured list, ace southpaw Chris Sale is set to make his return to the mound next weekend. David O’Brien of The Athletic relays that Sale is “penciled in” to be activated from the injured list and take the ball for Saturday’s game against the Phillies. Sale is on the 60-day injured list, so the Braves will need to clear a 40-man roster spot to accommodate his return once it becomes official.
The 59-71 Braves are ten games out of a Wild Card spot and have virtually no hope of making a run to the postseason at this point. Sale’s return isn’t likely to change that, but getting the 36-year-old veteran starts down the stretch will nonetheless be important for the likely future Hall of Famer personally. Sale is no stranger to injuries; his 2024 Cy Young award winning campaign saw him make 29 starts, his highest total since 2017. Through his first 15 starts of this year, Sale seemed to have not missed a beat: he pitched to a phenomenal 2.52 ERA with a 2.69 FIP and a phenomenal 30.8% strikeout rate.
Unfortunately, a ribcage fracture sidelined Sale back in June. He’s been out of the club’s rotation ever since, and in that time has become one among a pile of injured starters the Braves have been forced to replace. Reynaldo Lopez and AJ Smith-Shawver both hit the injured list with season-ending ailments before Sale got hurt, and since Sale’s injury that trio has been joined by Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured elbow) and Grant Holmes (elbow inflammation). Sale is the only one expected to return among that group this season, and when he arrives this weekend he’ll join Spencer Strider and top prospect Hurston Waldrep at the top of the Atlanta rotation. Behind that trio, Brian Snitker will like rotate between some combination of Joey Wentz, Bryce Elder, and recent waiver claim Cal Quantrill with Dane Dunning and Didier Fuentes also in the mix as potential depth options.
If Sale can return for five or six healthy and effective starts down the stretch, that should put him in a good position to have a normal offseason and once again be a fixture of the Atlanta rotation come 2026. With Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias both set to reach free agency and the club poised to miss the postseason for the first time since 2017, this offseason could be one that sees significant change come to the Braves organization. With so many homegrown players signed to long-term contracts, however, it could prove somewhat difficult to retool the roster in a substantial way. Listening to offers on a rental ace like Sale could be one way to accomplish that, but it seems unlikely that will even be considered given Atlanta’s firm position against making their ace available at the deadline.
Why does everyone keep saying there is no possible way the Braves can make it to the postseason this year? There are still 32 games left for them to play. Literally anything can happen in the last few weeks of the season. It’s not the Mets are way ahead of them, record-wise.
It’s called math.
Math that doesn’t quite add up just yet, though. If there were only 10 games left in the season, then there would definitely 100% be no way. Like I said, though…anything can happen. Teams can go on hot or cold streaks down the stretch.
Hold onto your dream.
Mathematically if they go 30 and 2 they have the smallest, minute chance. That would need to happen for there to be any possibility. From the kid in Angel’s in the outfield” It could happen”!
I am due back on earth now…
It’s not a matter of the math “adding” up. It’s about “dividing” losses among the trans ahead of them in a way to make it possible for them to have a mathematical chance.
In this case it’s just tmd for them to make it. Too much division.
In 2024 3 teams tied for record of 89
Wins for the last 2 wild cards with 1 team going home. The Braves are at 59 wins with 32 games left they would have to go 30 and 2 to reach 89 wins. I am a huge Braves fan but the odds are crazy there. They would have to 6 teams they would have to pass. The Mets who hold the last wild card would have to go 20 and 12.
Braves would need 2 winning streaks of 15 in a row. Not going happen
tmd – The worst September collapse in baseball history was by the 2011 Chicken & Beer Sox, who blew a 9-game lead after September 2nd.
The chances of the Mets blowing a 10-game lead over the Braves starting tomorrow are basically zero, not to mention there’s 5 additional teams the Braves would have to leapfrog.
As for Sale …. on behalf of Red Sox Nation, welcome back Chris!!! We wish you all the best, especially against Seattle and Houston ;O)
…Even if they only played the Rockies every game the remaining season. There isn’t a single team anyone can bet on to run that streak against the Rockies in 32 games.
Rockies beat up the Dodgers last week, so even that isn’t a safe bet for consecutive wins.
@Benjamin-not necessarily the 82 Braves wone 13 in a row to start the season, just for fun these guys rattle off 13 and a loss. That leaves 18 to go, another 9 wins and a loss leaves 8 to finish out the season on a streak. Probable, hell no! The Rockies did win like 22 out of 24 to finish a season not long ago and make it in. The Mets going 19-13 to finish makes the math work. Plus the other teams to leapfrog would have to be just as hot to keep to keep the Braves out. Again I know it’s so not likely as they have not shown anything close to this level of play. A little divine intervention and it could happen!
Fever, the column indicates likely HOF. While he’s been dominant, do you see him making it in? I don’t. Sort of like specie in that injuries likely cost him enshrinement barring another Cy Young award or leading a team to the WS championship.
*Pedie.
dewey – Absolutely he will get in, without question!
There’s usually two sets of requirements …… minimum 10 seasons, and elite for a period of time.
Well he has 12 full seasons already, that’s one.
He’s finished Top 6 in Cy voting EIGHT times, and he even got MVP voting 5 times including 2 Top Ten.
Like Lloyd Christmas said….. so you thinkI have a chance lol
Actually, it is NOT mathematically possible for 3/4 of the National League to all lose 20 games.
It’s so funny you say that, I literally just saw an Instagram spoof of the Braves playoff chances and Dumb & Dumber…”1 in a million, so you’re saying there’s a chance?!” haha
“It’s not the Mets are way ahead of them, record-wise.”
While true, the Marlins, Giants, DBacks, Reds, and Cardinals are all between the Braves and the Mets. So not only would the Braves need to win like 26+ of their remaining games (which would still only put them at 85-77), six separate teams would also have to not play well down the stretch.
and…some of these teams will play one another in September. some of them will win.
“[T ain’t over till its over.
Braves will have a SALE on Monday !!
What a team to have your first game back
Even on the DL, Sale is worth more than Vaughn Grissom.
I can’t believe he got injured two years in a row with the Braves.
yeah, specially with 2 non-arm related injuries
…while winning the pitching Triple Crown and Cy Young, no less…don’t leave that out.
Where was he for the final 2 weeks of his Triple Crown pitching season? Yup, the IL.
Pretty amazing feat. Do you really think anyone expected him to last the entire year when he hadn’t pitched a full MLB season since 2019? And he still won the Cy — and the oldest ever to do so.
I’d think everyone, including NYM, would take the results even if it meant they missed him during the final 2 weeks of the season.
Sale, Waldrep, and Wentz is a decent playoff rotation… time to make our move! We just need to go 28-4 the rest of the season!
BoSox fan here, but this dude is someone I’ve been a fan of no matter where he plays. Chicago, Boston, Atlanta. How do you not love this dude? Not unlike Randy Johnson as far as fanbase goes.
Just the nastiest slider!
Loves and respects those before him. Like when he pulled an El Tiante against Boston this year after Luis passed.
Go get em, Sale!
At least he can finish the season not on the IL, and really these last couple starts are just to ramp up for spring training 2026.