The Braves may not make the postseason. Losers of three straight, Atlanta is now 2.0 games behind the Mets for the final Wild Card spot, and if their recent play is any indication, they won’t have a shot when New York comes to town for a three-game set next week.
If they do, in fact, miss the playoffs for the first time since 2017, it’ll be unfortunate for a number of reasons, but I think the most disappointing one is not seeing Chris Sale pitching in the playoffs.
It will be criminal if the soon-to-be Cy Young winner doesn’t get his time to shine in October. The offseason acquisition has been praised, and it may be Alex Anthopolous’ Mona Lisa.
All it cost was Vaughn Grissom. To make it even sweeter, the Red Sox are literally paying Sale’s salary as a part of the trade negotiated by Anthopoulos. Boston agreed to pay $17 million of the $27.5 million Sale was owed in 2024.
He’s in rare form, and it might be the best he’s ever looked. Chris Sale is eyeing not only his first-ever Cy Young award but also the Triple Crown, which hasn’t been won since Clayton Kershaw more than a decade ago.
In his most recent outing, Sale allowed one run and struck out six over six innings, shutting down Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers for his major league-leading 17th win of the season. On the season, Sale is now 17-3 with a 2.35 ERA, on track to win the NL Cy Young Award, leading the National League in strikeouts, wins and ERA.
It’s worked out better than I think anyone could’ve expected, and it’s why the Braves trade for Chris Sale earned ESPN’s Jeff Passan’s Move of the Year.
The Atlanta Braves do plenty of things well. They have made six straight postseason trips, with a World Series title in that span. They have built the most enviable young core in baseball, almost all incredibly talented, locked up for the primes of their careers. They prioritize elite players. They have drafted and developed them, found them internationally, watched them blossom on the pitching side. This year, they traded for one.
Of course, we didn’t know it at the time. Chris Sale’s previous five years had been something of a nightmare: flashes of extreme, best-in-the-game brilliance, only to be felled by a spell of injuries, to the point where he was wondering whether to return. He stayed healthy this season, and he’s been the most dominant pitcher in the world. After finishing sixth, fifth, third, fourth, fifth, second and fourth in AL Cy Young voting, he is going to win the National League version this season in a runaway.
It’s a wonderful testament to Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos’ willingness to take risks. Pitching health is hard. You have to believe something not only to trade Vaughn Grissom for Sale but then to extend him before he throws a pitch, adding a second guaranteed year and a club option on top of it. Furthermore, Boston sent $17 million to Atlanta to cover most of Sale’s 2024 salary. By winning the Cy Young and finishing the year healthy, Sale will have his 2026 option guaranteed at $18 million — giving him $56 million rather than the $27.5 million that was previously guaranteed and putting the cost for the Braves at $39 million over three years.
Sale’s success buoyed the Braves in the year their offense vanished — many due to injury, some to regression. Sale was the constant.
Watching Chris Sale pitch this year for the Braves has been one of the few joys of the season. A season from hell, but Sale is the long bright spot. I once again reiterate, that if the Braves don’t make it to the postseason, it’ll be criminal that we won’t get to watch the best pitcher in baseball toe the rubber in October.
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Photographer: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire
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