Braves Today

Braves Media, Fans React to Concerning Chris Sale Stat

Atlanta Braves media and fans had mixed reactions to a concerning Chris Sale stat on Thursday afternoon.

Dave Holcomb

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
In this story:

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale won his 18th game of the season on Thursday afternoon. With six strikeouts, he also moved back ahead of San Diego Padres starter Dylan Cease in strikeouts this season.

Sale currently sits first in the National League in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

But despite another impressive stat line -- two earned runs allowed on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks in five innings -- it's wasn't all good for Sale on Thursday. The radar gun measured Sale's 4-seam fastball more than two MPH slower than what his season average has been.

That appeared alarming to The AJC's Justin Toscano.

"He threw one at 89.4 mph. He threw a couple others at 89.7," Toscano wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Before today, Sale had only thrown one four-seamer under 90 mph. He had only thrown 15 four-seamers at 91 mph or below."

Sale had more zip on his final fastball of the afternoon. But overall, he lost velocity as the afternoon went.

"Sale's final 4-seamer of the fifth inning was clocked at 92.5 mph," wrote MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "His 4-seamer sat between 89.4 mph-90.7 mph during most of the fourth and fifth innings."

One fan on X noticed the trend of Sale's fastball losing velocity a couple starts ago.

"Biggest thing I'll be watching with Chris Sale tonight is his fastball velocity," wrote Austin Cain-Reach on September 14. "He was down a tick or two in each of his last two starts, and while he was still brilliant in those games, he'll likely need his good velo vs. a top opponent like LAD."

Other members of the media and fans, though, contributed Sale's decrease in velocity Thursday as a result of him battling his control.

"Chris Sale has no feel for his fastball," wrote Amber. "I'm assuming he's purposefully taking some velocity off to try and locate it."

"For those who appear to be trying to create panic about Sale's velocity without providing proper context. He had fine velocity today," wrote Beaneater Buzz. "He just couldn't locate it well. You don't keep throwing a pitch you can't locate."

However one spins it positively, a drop in velocity is generally not a good thing. But it also doesn't necessarily mean Sale is dealing with an injury. Perhaps he had just an off afternoon.

There's another possibility, but it's also not a scenario Braves fans want to hear. Sale could be wearing down after a long season.

Despite the Braves' effort to establish a 6-man rotation this season, Sale has pitched 177.2 innings in 2024. In the Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz era, an ace like Sale would easily throw 200 frames if not closer to 300.

But that's obviously not the case anymore. And at 35 years old, Sale has already thrown more innings this season than he has since leading the American League in innings during 2017.

I have full faith that the Braves will have Sale's best interests at heart. Atlanta fans will have to hope the team doesn't suddenly reveal over the next couple days that something is indeed wrong with Sale.

But the Braves can also ill-afford to implement some kind of innings limit with Sale right now. Lower velocity or not, manager Brian Snitker needs all the innings Sale can give him the rest of the year.

Published
Dave Holcomb
DAVE HOLCOMB