It’s Time to Give Chris Sale His Flowers

Coming in HOT 🔥

A walk-off in the bottom of the 10th inning on Tuesday night against the Reds capped off another great outing from Chris Sale. The Braves are now 12-5 in their last 17 games and look to be finding chemistry in a lineup that seems to have changed almost every game.

Let’s give some flowers to Chris Sale. In his last three starts, he’s pitched 18.2 innings with 24 strikeouts to just 4 walks. We know he’s been great in the Atlanta uniform, but he reached a monumental career milestone in the Tuesday night victory over Cincy: his 300th career start on the mound.

The first inning was also his 2,000th career inning pitched, which is so impressive when you consider his arm angle and injury history. He went on to blank the Reds, going six and two-thirds on Tuesday with TEN strikeouts and two walks.

If he stays this hot, he’ll most certainly be on the NL All-Star roster for the second year in a row, but will there be any other Braves representing us in Truist this summer?

Last year, we had no batters elected to the starting lineup. However, we were well represented in the rotation with Sale joining Max Fried and Reynaldo Lopez in the pitching ranks backing up Paul Skenes.

But what about this year?

Will there be any Braves in the starting lineup?

As a team, the Braves are fourth in the NL with 40 Homeruns as of May 6th. Austin Riley leads the team with 8, while Murphy has 7 and Olson has 6. Other than that, the offense has been… frustratingly average.

The Braves are 17th in the MLB in Batting Average, 19th in Runs and RBIs, 21st in Stolen Bases, and 14th in strikeouts.

Our best chance for the starting lineup would be Ozuna at the DH position or Riley at 3B. Sean Murphy certainly has an outside shot at the Catcher spot, but he needs to step on the gas and outshine Carson Kelly (Cubs) and Will Smith (Dodgers) if he wants to be behind the dish.

Sale and Schwellenbach have a lot of competition to make the rotation. Too many pitchers to list but I’ll put it this way- neither of our guys are on the first page of Wins Above Replacement leaders for NL pitchers.

Positive vibes only. We have clawed our way back to .500 with scrappy play from guys like Eli White and our key pieces returning to form. I like our chances to have at least one of Ozuna, Riley, or Murphy representing us in the starting lineup this July! (Michael Harris is staring at me through the screen I can feel it.)

Could Daysbel Be the Next Closer?

After defecting from Cuba and battling through Tommy John surgery, Daysbel Hernández has emerged as one of the Braves’ most effective arms. His 2.16 ERA leads the bullpen, and his slider is downright nasty. He’s touched 99.6 mph this season (yes, the fastest pitch on the roster), and while he’s gotten a bit lucky on batted balls, the talent is undeniable. With Raisel Iglesias entering free agency, it’s not too early to wonder: is Daysbel being groomed for the closer role? He’ll need to cut down the walks, but we’ll say this—he’s got the stuff, the story, and maybe soon... the saves.

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