ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MARCH 18: Boston Red Sox short stop Marcelo Mayer (85) throws the ball over to first base during the MLB spring training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays on March 18, 2023, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Chris Sale was set to make his Atlanta Braves debut against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon. The southpaw pitched 5 ⅓ innings, striking out seven batters, allowing five hits, two walks, and two earned runs, one of which was a home run by a former teammate.
Kyle Schwarber hit a solo homer to right field in the bottom of the first inning, cutting the Braves’ advantage to 2-1. Schwarber and Sale were colleagues with the Red Sox for half of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, after Boston acquired the power hitter from the Washington Nationals.
Sale hopes to recover and get his career back on track after missing the majority of the previous four seasons due to injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, missing a significant portion of the 2021 season and starting just nine games. In 2022, he had a stress fracture in his rib cage soon before the season began, shattered his pinky finger after he was hit by an Aaron Hicks comebacker,
The left-hander, who was a key member of the team in 2018 during its historic season that led to a World Series triumph, was always accountable and made it plain that he would do everything in his power to return better. Sale’s tenure in Boston came to an end when the club suddenly moved him to the Braves for Vaughn Grissom, who is presently recovering from a groyne injury sustained early in spring training.
Despite winning the World Series with the Red Sox and recording the final out in Game 6, Sale claimed he did not consider his stint in Boston a success.
“I only had one complete, healthy season there. I was there seven years. I only pitched tip-to-tip once, in 2017, yet it was the best year of my career in terms of statistics. “2018 was probably the second best year of my career,” he told reporters in January. “I missed some time, but we had a wonderful year and won the World Series.
