Chris Sale has been running through a brutal stretch of opposing arms, and the results have still been absurd. Over the last month, he’s had to answer Cristopher Sanchez, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Brandon Pfaadt, Gerrit Cole, and Jacob Misiorowski. The Braves haven’t beaten them all with Sale on the mound, but his own work has been outstanding.
The numbers from the second half are the kind that make you stop and stare: 67 strikeouts, 4 walks and 1 home run allowed in 52 innings. He came into last night’s game with a second-half FIP of 0.88, and by my back-of-the-envelope math that number is 1.23 now.
I checked back as far as 1974 through Fangraphs, and that 1.23 mark is the lowest second-half FIP I could find for any Braves starting pitcher in that span. Greg Maddux was transcendent, sure, but even he doesn’t live in a 67-strikeout, 4-walk neighborhood very often.
That said, a 1.23 FIP isn’t the lowest second-half mark overall for Braves pitchers with at least 20 innings. Paul Assenmacher posted a 0.78 in the second half of 1989, and somehow didn’t allow a home run in that massive homer year.
So the question hangs there: is Chris Sale having the best second half season in Braves history? John Smoltz in 1991 was the first name that came to mind, but that run felt so electric in part because of how rough his first half was, and because it helped push the Braves to the World Series.
If Sale keeps this going, the case only gets stronger. Right now, he’s got a real shot at claiming that title - and maybe adding another Cy Young to the mix, too.
In Other News...
Braves Have An October Problem They Cant Keep Ignoring
The ABS challenge system has become one more thing the Braves have had to sort through in 2026, and so far it has not been a strength. Atlanta has posted the lowest overturn rate in the league while also challenging fewer pitches than most teams, a combination that suggests the club is leaving value on the table with a system that can swing a game in a hurry.
What stands out is not just the results, but the hesitation behind them. The Braves have been reluctant to pull the trigger on pitches that fit the reasonable standard, and players such as Austin Riley and Michael Harris II have already pointed to the adjustment as a real issue. With October looming, the concern is less about whether the rule is here to stay and more about whether Atlanta can get comfortable enough with it before the games matter most. [Read more 🡒]
AJ Smith-Shawver Is Putting Braves In A Tough Rotation Spot
AJ Smith-Shawvers return to the Braves rotation was supposed to be one of the more encouraging developments of the second half, a young arm coming back from Tommy John surgery and giving Atlanta a chance to see how he fit into the future. Instead, the right-hander has been thrown right back into the kind of evaluation mode that comes with a post-surgery comeback, with his first MLB start nearly a year after the procedure followed by a stretch that has left the club searching for more consistency from him.
The issue has been less about merely taking the ball and more about how he is getting outs, since Smith-Shawver has had trouble missing bats and has especially needed better results with his sinker and slider. Atlanta still has reason to hope the stuff sharpens up, because the Braves would love for him to settle into the role they envisioned when he returned, but right now the rotation picture is a little messier than they probably expected. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Prospect Night Had One Brutal Collapse Fans Will Want Explained
The Braves farm system had a night full of mixed results, but the most promising stretch came in Columbus, where the Clingstones stayed in a tense extra-inning game with Pensacola long enough to make things interesting. Garrett Baumann got his second Triple-A start for Gwinnett, while Rome sent Aiven Cabral to the mound for five innings, and both affiliates were part of a slate that had more than its share of familiar developmental ups and downs.
Columbus looked poised to turn its matchup into a grinder before the late innings went sideways in a way that will nag at anyone tracking the system. The Clingstones got a huge swing from John Gil to help them claw back into it, but the bullpen could not finish the job in the 10th, turning what had been a competitive night into a frustrating finish. Gwinnett had its own bright spot in Maverick Handleys homer, but the Stripers still dropped a 9-3 decision to Charlotte, leaving the Braves with plenty to sort through after another uneven night on the farm. [Read more 🡒]