This year has been the season from hell for the Braves, and the latest gut punch comes in the form of an Austin Riley injury.
Atlanta’s star third baseman took a 97 mph fastball off the hand, and if our worst fears are realized, Riley will be lost for the season. At best, he avoided significant injury, but an IL stint feels inevitable
Amid a horrid campaign, Chris Sale and Marcell Ozuna have been the lone bright spots as the Braves boast not one, but two triple crown threats.
The Big Bear’s turnaround has been nothing short of miraculous. At the beginning of the season last year, he was dealing with off-field drama and on-field struggles. Something clicked when the calendar turned to May, and he’s been among the best hitters in baseball ever since.
That has continued in 2024. Marcell Ozuna owns an NL-leading 93 RBIs and a .309 average while trailing Shohei Ohtani’s 39 home runs by three. The Braves designated hitter has a real shot of winning the first batting triple crown since Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012.
An equally mesmerizing story is the resurrection of Chris Sale. The eight-time All-Star struggled to stay healthy from 2019-2023, and he came to Atlanta in hopes of finding some semblance of normalcy.
He entered the season healthy for the first time in quite a long time, and we may be watching the best version of Chris Sale. He’s never won a Cy Young award, despite never finishing outside of the top 6 in voting for the AL Cy Young seven years in a row.
The Braves new ace has a chance to be the first pitching triple crown winner in the National League since Clayton Kershaw did it in 2011. Sale currently leads the NL in wins (14), ERA (2.62), and strikeouts (187).
Ozuna will have to catch Ohtani in home runs, and Sale will have to hold off Dylan Cease in strikeouts, but both have decent chances of becoming the first pair of teammates to ever win the triple crown in the same season.
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John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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