Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, … [+] Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The sight of Chris Sale hitting 98 mph at one point during his five innings in the humidity at Yankee Stadium, certainly got the attention of a few teammates, who are two-plus months into playing meaningful games with him as a starter for the Atlanta Braves.
Among them was Jarred Kelenic, who asked a smallish scrum something along the lines, what did he throw 98?
Yes, Sale threw 98 and it was a continuation of a comeback season for the pitcher who got the last out of the 2018 World Series for the Boston Red Sox by striking out Manny Machado in Dodger Stadium.
And the conclusion was, the acquisition of Sale is going really well.
“He’s fun to watch, fun to play behind,” Kelenic said. “We got a left-hander throwing 90 miles an hour, some run like that, it’s a tough AB, especially when he’s locating on both sides of the plate, it’s a tough night.”
It was hard to know what version of Sale the Braves were getting when they acquired him on Dec. 30 from the Red Sox. The Red Sox were so willing to move on they sweetened things by paying $17 million of his projected $27.5 million, a figure that became a $38 million two-year deal with plenty of deferred money.
“He’s healthy again,” manager Brian Snitker said after Sale’s 10th win gave him double-digit wins for the first time since 2018. “He had a normal offseason. When we traded for him, he started throwing at the complex a couple of days a week and he had just a regular spring. There weren’t any restrictions or anything like that.
“I think that’s amazing what that does for him to have a normal offseason and the training and all that and get to spring training. He was a normal guy there and he’s been really, really good. Kind of say I think he’s back to where he was”
Back to where he was is the pitcher who posted seven straight double-digit seasons from 2012 through 2018. After his second season with the Red Sox, Sale inked a deal that added $145 million for five years.
In the span of his new contract, various injuries limited Sale to 56 starts and 17 wins. Left elbow problems ended his season after 25 starts in 2019 and then came the Tommy John surgery and perhaps the most frustrating injury occurred in his last appearance at Yankee Stadium back on July 17, 2022.
As the Yankees were cruising to their 64th win in 92 games before the All-Star break two years ago, Sale broke his left pinkie on a line drive by Aaron Hicks. It was one of those frustrating injuries that devastated him because Sale knew from the outset he broke his finger.
In a similar part of the visiting clubhouse where Sale spoke of the frustration of his broken finger, he was proud of what he has achieved to date with his new team but also introspective.
“That can creep up anytime,” Sale said. “You’re never really out of the woods. I’ve been through too much to sit here and say anything like that right now. I know how this game could be. I just like to be able to sit back and appreciate what I have right now and where I’m at and who I’m doing it with. I just really got to stay focused on each and every day and not try to get too far ahead of yourself in this game.
“Just like we weren’t worried when it wasn’t going well, we’re not going to sit here and throw a party when it is. You just got to stay consistent, stay on the job and keep pulling your weight.”
Sale has been more than pulling his weight for a team who lost Spencer Strider to Tommy John surgery in April and is starting to hits its stride of late for numerous reasons.
“We’ve seen the great Chris Sale early in his Red Sox days over there a lot and then obviously the Chris Sale that went through a lot of injuries and battled through things,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after watching Aaron Judge and Juan Soto strike out two times apiece against Sale. “He looked really good.”
