The Atlanta Braves can punch their ticket to the MLB playoffs on Wednesday if they win their matchup against the Chicago Cubs or if either the Arizona Diamondbacks or San Diego Padres suffer a loss.
With Atlanta heading back to the postseason after last year’s disappointing absence, there are still question marks surrounding this team, the biggest being how deep the starting rotation can take them in October.
However, if there is one player capable of giving Atlanta a clear advantage whenever he takes the mound, it is left-hander Chris Sale. Sale has been one of the best arms in MLB in his 16th big-league season.
The 37-year-old veteran earned his third straight All-Star selection, and across 26 appearances he has posted a 2.18 ERA, which would be the lowest of his Braves tenure if the season ended today. He has also collected 190 strikeouts across 157 innings of work.
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Sale has not pitched since last Thursday, tossing seven innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and allowing just three runs while striking out six. He did not have his best stuff that day but still did enough for Atlanta to squeeze out a win.
His next start will not come this week either. The Braves announced their starters for the upcoming weekend series against the Houston Astros and Sale has been pushed back once again. Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes and Martin Perez will get the ball respectively.
Mark Bowman of MLB.com confirmed there is nothing physically wrong with Sale and the Braves are simply giving him extra rest.
The historical context Bowman references is meaningful. When the Braves made the playoffs in 2024, Sale was still at the peak of his powers, winning the National League Cy Young Award that season.
However, he missed the entire postseason due to back spasms, and similarly to this year he had some of his starts pushed back toward the end of the regular season. Fortunately that is not the case this year in terms of his health, and the Braves will have their ace on the mound for the opening round of the MLB playoffs.
Sale’s next start will come next week, likely against the Cincinnati Reds, and he will effectively get nearly 10 days of rest before taking the mound again. For a veteran pitcher with a ton of mileage on his arm, that kind of rest heading into October could make all the difference.
