This winter, the Boston Red Sox said "goodbye" to the squad's longtime ace, Chris Sale. He was shipped down to Atlanta to play for the Braves while the Red Sox got second base prospect Vaughn Grissom in return.
After signing a five-year, $145 million extension in 2019, Sale only made 11 starts for Boston between 2020 and 2022. He also spent a good amount of his 2023 season injured, and the front office believed the best thing to do was to trade Sale and just move on. But you knew what was coming next, didn't you?
Sale made his spring training debut for the Braves on Tuesday afternoon. In typical Sale fashion, he was perfect — as soon as the Sox can't use him, of course.
The lefty threw two innings against the Pirates. He fanned four batters and didn't allow any hits. Sale's deadly fastball hit 97 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the year he leaves the Red Sox he's in the best position to produce in years.
Chris Sale strikes out four in his @Braves #SpringTraining debut. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZopfeBM8ye
— MLB (@MLB) February 27, 2024
Former Red Sox ace Chris Sale was lights-out in his spring training debut for the Braves
Sale is a third or fourth starter in the Braves' current rotation. If he performs at his peak this season and doesn't experience any injuries, Atlanta's staff will be nearly unstoppable. They're destined for October baseball, to the chagrin of Sox fans everywhere.
Sale told FanNation that he's healthy for the first time "since 2018." Sale's first healthy offseason and spring training in quite some time could result in a more dangerous version of himself than the league has seen in years.
But this is how it goes with Sale — and Braves fans should learn it well. Expectations are set high, and just as the promise of good pitching gets real, Sale takes a come-backer off the pinky finger or has to leave a game with shoulder soreness. The lefty's injuries are not his fault, but they sure made it hard for Boston fans to rely on him.
Atlanta fans will be lucky to get a healthy Sale all season long. Hopefully, he's past the point of constantly battling injuries because the league is better with Sale in it.
But it's maddening that his success could be coming in another city after all the chances he had in Boston after 2018.