ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves made a big splash in the trade market on Saturday afternoon, acquiring seven-time All-Star LHP Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom.
At age 34, Sale has been injury-prone over the past four seasons, starting just a combined 31 games since 2020 -- a season that he missed entirely due to Tommy John Surgery. But make no mistake, when fully healthy and on his game, Sale is still capable of competing like a near front-of-the-line starter.
In 20 starts a season ago, Sale compiled a 4.30 ERA and struck out 125 batters compared to just 29 walks in 102.2 innings. Sale's 11.0 K/9 remained well above league average, something the Braves have to be intrigued about. For comparison, an 11.0 K/9 would have ranked fifth in all of Major League Baseball a season ago.
Sale's career rate of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings is the highest for a qualified pitcher in MLB history.
The injury history is concerning, however. From a torn ulnar collateral ligament in 2020 that kept him out a good chunk of 2021, a right rib stress fracture prior to the 2022 season that landed him on the 60-day injured list, to a fractured left pinkie finger in his second start back, to a broken right wrist following a bicycle accident later that season -- Sale has been through the wringer and back some since 2019.
But before that, during his prime, Sale was a guy who made the All-Star Game in seven straight seasons from 2012 to 2018, finishing top three in the Cy Young voting twice, with one runner-up finish.
Grissom, a promising young prospect for the Braves at age 22, was selected by Atlanta in the 11th round of the 2019 draft and batted .287/.339/.407 in 64 career games with the Braves.
