NORTH PORT, Fla. — Early reports of Chris Sale’s work on the mound and assimilation in the clubhouse have been just as the Atlanta Braves hoped from the veteran left-hander, a seven-time former All-Star with a reputation for being a great teammate who just wants to win, despite a public image as a quick-tempered hothead.
“He’s been great,” said catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who said something that teammates elsewhere have said about Sale, that he’s got a great sense of humor despite an ultra-serious mound demeanor. “He’s been a goofball. He likes to have fun. I heard on his start days he’s more intense. So, we’ll see how that is. I’m really excited to work with him.”
Sale was an American League Cy Young Award runner-up in 2017 and had seven consecutive top-six finishes (including six top-five) in Cy Young balloting from 2012 to 2018 with the Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. He was one of baseball’s elite pitchers in that stretch, going 99-59 with a 2.91 ERA while averaging 240 strikeouts, 198 innings and 30 starts.
Sale had an AL-best 274 strikeouts in 208 2/3 innings in 2015 with the White Sox and led the majors in strikeouts (308) and innings (214 1/3) in 2017 with the Red Sox.
But Sale has made just 56 starts and gone 17-18 with a 4.16 ERA in the past five years due to a series of injuries, including Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2020 season. Still, he had a 3.16 ERA in the last 15 of his 20 starts in 2023 with Boston, despite a two-month stint for a stress fracture in his left scapula. The Braves became intrigued early in the summer and intensified their pursuit of Sale after the season.
Chris Sale’s unconventional herky-jerky motion makes him a joy to watch, says teammate Charlie Morton. (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
He’s been healthy since returning in August, and Sale is coming off what he called his first normal offseason since 2018, with no rehab and a normal throwing program. His early bullpen sessions have drawn plenty of interested observers in camp, with manager Brian Snitker among those who went to a back field to see him throw and remarked on the strong mound presence and unique delivery of the lanky 6-foot-6 sidearmer.
“Tyler Flowers worked with him a lot and he’s still with us,” d’Arnaud said of the retired catcher who’s now a special assistant with the Braves. “It’ll be fun to pick (Flowers’) brain, and hear how Chris thought Tyler caught him as well.”
Braves pitcher Charlie Morton, who’s 40 and saw Sale pitch plenty when Morton was in the American League, said the lefty has always had a “different presence” on the mound, not to mention a delivery unlike anyone else’s in today’s game. Sale is all arms and elbows coming at batters from a side angle similar to the style of 6-10 Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, but more herky-jerky.
“I think he’s one of those guys that you look forward to watching him pitch, even if you’re on the other side,” Morton said of Sale. “Obviously you want your team to win, you want your team to score. But you still look forward to watching guys like that work.”
The Braves traded for Sale in late December, then showed how much they believe in his ability to perform at a high level and stay healthy by signing him to a two-year, $38 million extension. That superseded the previous final year on a five-year, $145 million contract he signed with Boston in March 2019.
Sale joked after the trade that he wanted to talk to Morton about the fountain of youth that the older pitcher has apparently found. Morton smiled Wednesday when told about that Sale comment. Morton said that if he’d done all Sale accomplished by age 34, he’d probably have retired.
Morton said he hasn’t talked to Sale about how long he intends to pitch or if he has accomplishments he’s trying to attain.
“I don’t know what he wants,” Morton said. “What is he, a six- or seven-time All-Star? And he’s played in big games. He’s thrown plenty of innings. Got plenty of punchies (strikeouts). Like, if I was 34, my mentality would be different. I’d be like, all right well, I’m probably going to take it to the house (retire).”
Morton was a late bloomer who overcame Tommy John surgery and other setbacks in the first decade of his professional career with the Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. He didn’t figure things out and become consistent until he changed his mechanics and approach. His best seasons began at 33 with the Houston Astros in their 2017 World Series championship season.
“And that’s why I’m still here,” Morton said. “Because I still feel like I didn’t experience what I was capable of experiencing. And you work from the age of whatever, when you first pick up the ball and you discover how passionate you are about it and what you’re willing to put in the game, and it’s kind of like at some point you want to see and feel those moments that you think you’re capable of experiencing and earning. And I think (Sale) did that.
“But there are guys like that, like a (Max) Scherzer or a (Justin) Verlander. I played with guys just like that. And it’s like they don’t know, they don’t have that calibration. For them, it’s like pedal to the metal. Like, ‘I’m going to throw as many innings, make as many starts, punch as many tickets, get as many wins as I possibly can. And that’s going to be my legacy. Because when people look back in the record books, they’re going to look and they’re going to see my name up there.’
“And I just don’t know (Sale) well enough to know.”
But Morton and the rest of the Braves are beginning to get to know Sale. And so far, they like everything about him.
“I think our pitching got better (since last year), and that’s what wins later in the season,” d’Arnaud said. “Last year, unfortunately, we didn’t execute when we needed to. And now that our staff and our bullpen got even stronger, I like our chances even more than last year. I think (having Sale) hypes everybody up. If a starter wants to close out the World Series, you want to be on his team.”
D’Arnaud was referencing Game 5 of the 2018 World Series between Boston and Los Angeles Dodgers. Sale, who had started and got the win in Game 1, came in to pitch the ninth inning of Game 5 with a 5-1 lead and struck out all three batters faced — Justin Turner, Kike Hernández, Manny Machado — to finish the series-clinching win.
“He’s not supposed to be in the game and he wants the ball to win it all,” d’Arnaud said. “I think that’s going to be monumental for all the young guys to have that same attitude, and it will continue to help this organization grow.”
(Top photo of Chris Sale: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Associated Press)
