The Atlanta Braves are starting to play better baseball, but they just announced a surprising injury to their ace, Chris Sale. Sale is the reigning Cy Young Award winner.
Sale suffered a fractured left rib cage, according to The Athletic’s David O’Brien. Sale pitched 8 2/3 innings in his last outing and was removed following a single by Brandon Nimmo with two outs. However, he reportedly suffered the injury at the start of the inning on a diving play to stop the ball and get Juan Soto out at first base.
Sale dove to get to a ground ball between first base and the mound. He threw out Soto from his knees to record the first out of the ninth inning. He has been placed on the 15-day injured list, and Austin Cox has been recalled to take his place. Cox made his big league debut in 2023 for the Kansas City Royals, but has been pitching in the minor leagues since 2018. The Braves signed him as a free agent in May and he has a 4.85 ERA in 11 outings at Triple-A Gwinnett this year.
“The Braves won’t have a timeline for Sale’s return, and will wait until symptoms diminish before estimating when he’ll be back,” wrote O’Brien. “It likely will be a significant period, given the nature of the injury, perhaps magnified by his age, his slender physique and the amount of torque that the 6-foot-6 sidearming lefty produces in his delivery.”
Sale’s injury comes at a terrible time for the Braves. They have won three consecutive series and are starting to claw themselves back into the wild card race in the National League. However, without Sale, they will have to try and stay alive with a diminished rotation. The Braves still have Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach to rely on, but Sale was pitching like a Cy Young Award candidate.
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Sale had a 2.52 ERA in 15 starts and recorded 114 strikeouts. He is pitching in his 16th major league season and has a $18 million club option for next season. If the Braves are going to turn things around this year, getting Sale back will play a huge role.
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