Chris Sale is heading into the playoffs with the Atlanta Braves, and for the veteran left-hander, this run still carries a little extra weight. It’s his first postseason trip with Atlanta, and he said he’s looking forward to finally getting that chance in front of the home crowd.
“Very excited. It’ll be my first time doing it with Atlanta.
We’ll be at home, which will be amazing. I love pitching here in Atlanta.
I love pitching in front of these fans and being able to do it in the postseason makes it that much more special,” Sale said.
That he’s in this spot at all is notable. Sale told Jared Carrabis on his podcast that after the 2023 season, he seriously thought his career might be over.
“After the '23 season, it was at the end of the year and I just remember thinking okay, I have one year left on my contract and I have an option. There's no way they are picking up the option, so basically I got one year left of baseball," Sale said.
I went into the offseason like I want to end on a good note. I was tired of being hurt.
I was tired of sucking. I took the offseason to really get after it, I'm going to ride it off and end on a good note.”
Instead, the Braves gave him another year, and the move has paid off in a big way. Atlanta agreed to a one-year, $27 million contract extension with a club option, keeping Sale from reaching free agency next winter. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Sale, who turns 37 on March 30, rebuilt his career in Atlanta after five injury-plagued seasons, then won the National League Cy Young Award in 2024 and followed that with a strong 2025.
Sale also hit 200 strikeouts on Wednesday night, another sign of how sharp he’s been for Atlanta.
The Braves are back in the playoffs after a disappointing 2025 season, and Sale’s resurgence has been part of why they’ve remained among MLB’s best teams. If Atlanta had never traded for him, he might have already been out of the game. Instead, he’s still front and center, chasing another title with a club that gave his career new life.
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Braves Survived A Scary Acua Moment In A Huge Late Win
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The good news for the Braves is that the situation did not turn into something far worse, and the team was able to keep pushing toward a needed win. Atlanta edged the Reds 3-2 in 10 innings behind a strong outing from Chris Sale, a result that helped soften the anxiety from Acuas scare and kept the night focused on a hard-earned victory instead of an injury update. [Read more 🡒]