4 weeks agoThe Athletic's David O'Brien reports that Atlanta Braves left-hander
Chris Sale will start this year's Grapefruit League opener on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. Barring an unexpected development, Sale, last year's National League Cy Young winner, will also start the regular-season opener on March 27 at the San Diego Padres. Sale was amazing in his first year in Atlanta in 2024, winning the pitching Triple Crown by leading the league in wins (18), ERA (majors-best 2.38) and strikeouts (225 in 177 2/3 innings). His 29 starts were his most since 2017 and he was able to stay healthy until the last week of the season, when back spasms caused him to miss his final start and a wild-card loss to the Padres in the playoffs. The good news is his spasms subsided and he had a normal offseason. Sale is a top-five fantasy starter in 2025, albeit with plenty of injury risk.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - David O'Brien
4 months agoAtlanta Braves left-hander
Chris Sale (back), who was named the 2024 National League Cy Young winner on Wednesday, won't have his offseason hampered at all by the back spasms that he dealt with at the tail end of the season. Sale was unable to take his final turn of the regular season against the division-rival New York Mets in the regular season and then also wasn't available for the Braves in the wild-card series against the San Diego Padres. However, had Atlanta advanced to the NL Division Series, he would have started Game 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's great news for the 35-year-old southpaw as he looks for an encore in 2025 with the Braves. He posted a 2.38 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with 225 K's and only 39 walks in 177 2/3 innings in his first year in Atlanta. Sale obviously has ace upside, but there's also high bust potential because of his lengthy injury history.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Braves Today - Lindsay Crosby
4 months agoAtlanta Braves starting pitcher
Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, the first time the 35-year-old has won the award in his 15-year career, despite finishing in the top five in six consecutive seasons from 2013-18. The lefty went 18-3 while posting a 2.38 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 26.5% K-BB% while earning a trip to the All-Star game for the eighth time. The veteran also won his first career Gold Glove award in 2024. It looks like the Braves won this trade with the Red Sox, as
Vaughn Grissom was sent to the Red Sox in exchange for Sale, and Grissom played just 31 games this season due to injury, posting just a .190/.246/.219. Hopefully Sale's injury issues are behind him and he can continue to pitch a few more years with this type of effectiveness before any age-related decline kicks in. The southpaw was quite the value in fantasy drafts in 2024, but he will cost much more in 2025.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: Jeff Passan
5 months agoAtlanta Braves left-hander
Chris Sale (back) threw a side session on Friday and felt great. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told Sale earlier this week that he would have been on the roster for the National League Division Series had the Braves advanced past the San Diego Padres in the Wild-Card Series. Sale had to be scratched from Game 2 of Monday's divisional doubleheader against the New York Mets and then was unavailable to pitch in either of the two games of the Wild-Card Series in San Diego on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a disappointing end of the season for the 35-year-old veteran, who is the front-runner to win the National League Cy Young this year after going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 225 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings over his 29 starts in his first year with the Braves. The eight-time All-Star obviously still has lots of upside, but he's also a big injury risk at his age.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Mark Bowman
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