The Braves most significant acquisition of the offseason came when they pulled the trigger on a trade for seven-time All-Star Chris Sale, sending Vaughn Grissom to the Boston Red Sox.
Many fans are a little hesitant to give the trade their stamp of approval, given Sale’s age and injury history. He hasn’t been fully healthy since 2018, and health doesn’t typically improve in your mid-30s. With that being said, I don’t think it will take long for Braves Country to change its tune.
Not only is Chris Sale still plenty capable of producing an All-Star campaign again — last year was the worst year of his career statistically, and he recorded an 11.0 K/9 and 3.80 FIP — but the fire he’s going to bring to the clubhouse will add a different dynamic than we’ve seen over the last two seasons with the Braves.
“I think he’s just gonna bring so much more in the clubhouse,” A.J. Minter said on Foul Territory. “He has that dawg in him, and I spoke on, we have such really good guys in the locker room, and I think we need a little bit of that F-U mentality. I think Chris is going to bring that.”
At this point, it’s not even a debate. The Braves have been the best team in baseball for each of the last two seasons. They were undoubtedly in a class of their own last year, yet the result has been the same, one and done in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the 2021 Braves floundered for most of the season and didn’t even win 90 games before capturing the city’s first World Series since 1995. It takes more than just talent to win in October. The 2021 Braves had a swagger and fearlessness about them despite not being the most talented team, led by a couple of mid-season acquisitions in Joc Pederson and Jorge Soler.
That’s the kind of attitude Chris Sale is going to add to the Braves, whether he’s pitching like an All-Star or not. And that feeling, it’s contagious, able to spread like wildfire through all 26 guys in the clubhouse.
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