Chris Sale, the 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner, will have to wait a few extra days for his next start. Sale, who is 12-6 with a 2.08 ERA and 143 strikeouts this season, is being pushed back from his turn in this week's series against the Miami Marlins so he can instead start next weekend against the New York Yankees, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
The 37-year-old left-hander has anchored the Atlanta Braves' rotation for much of the past two seasons, headlining a group that has otherwise been thinned by injuries to Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep.
Mady Mertens-Imagn Images
With a 1.017 WHIP, Sale has remained Atlanta's most reliable starter as the club has built a 67-45 record and an eight-game lead in the NL East. In his most recent outing, Sale threw six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in a win over the New York Mets, extending a run of dominant starts as Atlanta pushes towards October.
Bowman reported that Grant Holmes will start Tuesday, Bryce Elder Wednesday and Martin Perez on Thursday to fill Sale's turn against Miami. The shuffle sets up Sale to face a Yankees club dealing with its own rotation questions.
The move also comes with the MLB trade deadline set for Monday at 6 p.m. EST. The Braves have already added left-hander Bailey Falter in a trade with the Kansas City Royals, and they could add further rotation depth before the deadline passes.
Detroit traded Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, but the Tigers scratched fellow right-hander Casey Mize from his start the day before, and multiple reports have linked Atlanta to Mize as a lower-cost alternative. The 29-year-old is in the midst of a career year, posting a 2.70 ERA, 85 strikeouts and a 0.992 WHIP in 86 2/3 innings in 2026.
