Braves Set Rotation for Mets Series Without Left-Hander Chris Sale: Report

The Braves will be facing the Mets in a critical late-June four-game series. Depending on Sunday's results, Atlanta will be anywhere from 9-11 games behind the Mets when the series begins Monday.

Last week, the Braves swept the Mets in a three-game set in Atlanta. That dropped New York into a first-place tie with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Braves have been looking up at both teams in the standings for most of the season. Atlanta still has aspirations of winning the NL East, but the team's first goal is to get back to the .500 mark.

That's going to be harder to do without Sale. The Braves placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a fractured left rib cage. Sale suffered the injury while diving to make a play during the ninth inning of his Wednesday start against the Mets.

Sale exited a couple batters later but due to fatigue and not injury. The 36-year-old pitched 8.2 shutout innings in a 5-0 victory versus the Mets.

With Sale sidelined indefinitely, the Braves will have to replace the 2024 NL Cy Young winner. In his last 10 outings, he went 5-2 with a 1.23 ERA.

Fuentes will get the first opportunity to replace Sale. The right-hander debuted Friday against the Miami Marlins, just three days after he turned 20 years old.

He gave up four runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in five innings.

Typically, MLB teams will settle for a split in a four-game series on the road. But with the Braves trailing the Mets by about 10 games, Atlanta needs every win it can get right now.

Fortunately, the Braves have played very well versus the Mets in recent years. Including last week's sweep, Atlanta is 20-9 against its rival since the start of the 2023 season. The Braves have posted a 9-5 record in New York versus the Mets since then.