The Atlanta Braves' Opening Day roster will consist of a very different starting rotation from last season. Familar names like Max Fried and Charlie Morton will be elsewhere, while aceSpencer Strider continues to recover from elbow surgery.
Although the Braves entered the winter with holes to fill in the pitching staff, general manager Alex Anthopoulos has remained confident that these needs can be addressed internally. That may have been wise considering how hot the pitching market ran this offseason, but for the plan to work, Atlanta will need its remaining stars to stay healthy in 2025.
That's no guarantee, considering recent injury histories of Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez as well as the increased workload placed on the inexperienced Spencer Schwellenbach. But with the team's recent Chris Sale announcement, it sounds like things are off to a good start.
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Chris Sale to start Grapefruit League opener
When the Braves traded infielder Vaughn Grissom to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Sale, Alex Anthopoulos received a lot of backlash. Many felt that Atlanta was giving up a promising prospect for an arm that, while possessing plenty of upside, had struggled to stay on the mound for extended periods of time in Boston.
But 2024 proved to be just the opposite. Grissom went down with injury and did not appear much at all for the Red Sox, while Sale captured his first Cy Young Award in his brilliant career and won the NL's Triple Crown. Sale did fade down the stretch a bit, battling back discomfort in September and October that raised some questions about his outlook for 2025. But the lefty is ready to prove that 2024 was not a fluke, and that he has enough left in the tank to grind out another full season.
Sale will start Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Twins in Fort Myers
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 18, 2025
At the end of last season, Sale did miss a start with back spasms and was left off of Atlanta's NL Wild Card roster. After seeing what Sale did in the regular season, this was a big blow for the Braves when they had to face a tough San Diego Padres lineup. Braves fans couldn't help but wonder if this was going to become the new norm for Sale. Now those fans should be able to exhale knowing he is in good enough shape to start the Braves' opener on Saturday — a sign that his throwing program is right on schedule.
With so many question still surrounding the starting rotation for Brian Snitker's squad, it is important that Sale stays in the best shape as possible to lead Atlanta's pitching staff in 2025.