Sale prepared for extra jolt facing former team in next start

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- Chris Sale has never been described as a pitcher who could use a little more adrenaline. But the high-energy hurler will be even more amped up than normal on Wednesday, when he faces his former Red Sox teammates at Truist Park.

“It’s not just baseball players playing baseball together,” Sale said. “I had great experiences with everyone there. I have a lot of love and respect for everyone over there. They were in my corner when I needed them most. I’ll always appreciate that and I’ll never take it for granted.”

Some of Sale’s greatest career moments occurred during his seven-year stint with the Red Sox. He finished top five in American League Cy Young Award balloting in his first two years with Boston. He also closed out the 2018 World Series with three strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning at Dodger Stadium.

But some of Sale’s lowest moments also occurred within this stint in Beantown. His final five seasons with the Red Sox included Tommy John surgery, a rib fracture, a pinky fracture, a wrist fracture and a stress fracture in his left shoulder.

Sale savored the support the Red Sox provided during those rough years and he appreciates everything he has experienced since being traded to the Braves on Dec. 30. The opportunity to have a healthy offseason for the first time since the end of the 2018 season has helped conjure memories of '12-18, when he finished top six in AL Cy Young balloting over seven straight seasons.

The Braves have enjoyed seeing Sale post a 3.44 ERA through his first six starts. He has pitched into the sixth inning five times and he has completed seven innings three times. He has allowed two runs or fewer in four of those outings.

Sale posted a 6.75 ERA through his first six starts with the Red Sox last year. He pitched into the sixth inning in just two of those outings and recorded an out in the seventh just once. He also allowed two runs or fewer in just two of those outings.

Whether looking at the numbers or simply using the eye test, this season looks and feels so much different than the most recent ones endured by Sale.

After allowing one run and tallying a season-high nine strikeouts over five innings last week in Seattle, Sale was asked what it has meant to him to remain effective while consistently working deep into games.

“As a starter, that’s our job,” Sale said. “I haven’t done that in years past. I want to get back to knowing what I know I’m capable of doing and doing what I know I’m capable of doing for this team to win.”

Sale’s slider has replaced his four-seam fastball as his primary pitch. He may never get back to being the elite strikeout artist he was nearly a decade ago. But this season’s early results indicate he can still be a very effective pitcher who consistently induces weak contact while occasionally still racking up decent swing-and-miss numbers.

The season-high 21 swings-and-misses Sale registered against the Mariners on Wednesday is a total he reached in seven of the 32 starts he made in his great 2017 season. That was the year he notched a career-high 308 strikeouts.

Boston fans won’t forget how great Sale was in 2017, and they certainly won’t forget how he ended '18. Just like Braves fans will forever have a spot in their hearts for Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Tyler Matzek, Will Smith and all of 2021’s postseason heroes, Red Sox fans will always relish that moment Sale created.

But some of these same folks booed Tom Brady and Roger Clemens when they returned to Boston. So they might be every bit as energized as Sale will be on Wednesday night.