Atlanta Braves Place Pitcher Chris Sale On the Injured List

The Atlanta Braves have placed pitcher Chris Sale on the injured list with fractured ribs, backdated to June 19th. Sale made a diving play to the left on the mound in a game against the Mets on June 18th, and it didn’t look like anything was wrong. He was even able to finish the game and get one more out after the dive. That wasn’t the case as the dive was the reason that he’s now on the injured list. 

The Atlanta Braves Pitching Staff Has Been Beat Up This Year

Chris Sale going on the injured list adds to the list of Braves pitchers that have had injuries this season. Starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver is out for the season with Tommy John Surgery, among other issues. The last thing Atlanta needed was another pitcher to get injured, but that’s exactly what happened. Chris Sale was picking up where he left off last year in his CY Young winning season. So far in 2025 in 89 IP, he was 5-4 with a 2.52 ERA. 

The Braves currently sit at 34-40 and are 11 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies. They’re going to have to go on a hot streak before the deadline, or they could be in danger of missing the playoffs. Don’t count this Atlanta Braves team out though, especially since Ronald Acuna Jr. has come back and looked like the superstar he’s always been. 

Spencer Strider and Others Will Have To Stabilize the Rotation

Guys like Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Grant Holmes will have to hold down a Braves rotation that looks a lot thinner without Chris Sale. Strider has had his struggles since returning, but he holds a 3.89 ERA. He’s going to have to be the Braves ace while Sale is out, and show the elite version of himself. 

Strider has elite potential because a pitcher doesn’t achieve a 20-5 record with a 3.86 ERA and 281 strikeouts, as he did in 2023, without having good potential. The Atlanta Braves have the pieces to still stay afloat in the playoff race while Sale is out.