Braves’ lefty Chris Sale is healthy; ‘I love to compete, and baseball is fun again’
Braves lefty Chris Sale enters spring training in an unfamiliar setting, he’s on a new team and healthy. The last four seasons have been a nightmare in the terms of the tall left-hander dealing with recovering from Tommy John surgery, a broken rib, broken pinky and wrist.
All of that appears to be behind Sale and he’s focused on competing with the Braves in the National League East.
“I never don't feel like my old self. I've always been me,” Sale said to reporters, including The Athletic. “My expectations don't waver. I expect to do what I've always done, which is compete to the highest level. I’m a little bit older, but I’ve still got it in me.”
Sale posted a 4.30 ERA over 20 starts for the Red Sox last season. The 34-year-old missed two months with a shoulder issue but returned to finish the season.
The Red Sox surprisingly were able to trade Sale plus cash ($17 million) for promising infield prospect Vaughn Grissom. The southpaw then immediately signed an extension with Atlanta that will keep him with the club through the 2025 season.
Sale went through this winter with no limitations or complications as he was preparing for spring training. He was able to throw regular bullpen sessions without dealing with the threat or concern an injury was looming.
“I love to compete, and baseball is fun again,” Sale said. “I’m really excited for this opportunity. It’s been a while since I’ve had the whole package of finishing healthy, having a normal offseason and coming into Spring Training healthy. So, all those things and being a little bit older and slightly smarter and with the staff here and the people I’m surrounded by, it’s going to give me the best opportunity I’ve had in a long time.”
At one point, Sale was one of the game’s most dominant lefties on the mound. Through his first seven seasons up to 2018, where the Red Sox won the World Series, Sale posted 99-59 record and 2.91 ERA in that sweltering stretch while averaging 240 strikeouts, 198 innings and 30 starts.
The Florida native was an All-Star from 2012 through 2018, leading the league in strikeouts in 2017 with 308. That version of Sale is likely gone, the older veteran can focus on going out, helping a competitive team try and reach their goal of winning a World Series.
“I think that just kind of goes with how I compete,” Sale said Saturday in his first interview since Braves pitchers and catchers began spring training workouts a few days ago. “You know, I’m for the most part pretty laid-back, except for when I’m on a baseball field. I just don’t think that that’s a good adjective to have on a baseball field. Being laid-back in competition is never going to be good for you. So, I do get intense. I like to compete. And I hate to lose.
“So all those things, kind of slam them together with high-pressure situations. Sometimes you get a little off the rails, but I like to think I can dial it in when I need to, and hopefully that lifts guys up around me.”
