Chris Sale injury provides opportunity for the Atlanta Braves

If it’s not one thing, it’s another with these Atlanta Braves. It feels like every ounce of momentum is derailed by something.

The Braves are 5-0 over the last week against the Mets. It’s a moment that should signal the season’s turnaround, but it’s hard to get too excited because of a recent injury to Chris Sale, who is expected to miss at least a month with a fractured rib cage. While the series loss to the Marlins stings, it pales in comparison to losing the reigning Cy Young award winner for an extended period of time.

The Braves’ ace heads to the injured list with a 2.52 ERA and 1.049 WHIP across 15 starts, but that doesn’t speak to the level that Sale was pitching at before the injury. The veteran stumbled out of the gate, boasting an unsightly 6.63 ERA in his first five starts.

In the next 11 outings, Chris Sale was the best pitcher in baseball, allowing just 11 earned runs in 70.1 innings, good for a minuscule 1.41 ERA in that span. There’s no replacing that, and it’s hard to see any silver lining in the situation, but if you squint hard enough, we might be able to find one.

Didier Fuentes made his MLB debut last Friday night against the Marlins at just 20 years old. Fuentes allowed four runs — three of which came on a home run — on six hits and one walk in five innings while striking out three.

The stat line won’t impress many who didn’t tune in, but the stuff was apparent. Fuentes’ fastball was live; he had plenty of control and made adjustments after a hanging breaking ball resulted in a three-run home run. The poise was impressive too.

Chris Sale isn’t going to be out for the rest of the season. That much is clear, and while we would all rather have the reigning Cy Young award winner in the rotation than a rookie in Didier Fuentes, we can see it as an opportunity rather than another kick in the groin.

The Braves might find their next young star out of this entire situation, so that when Chris Sale inevitably returns, the rotation will look like Sale-Schwellenbach-Strider-Holmes-Fuentes, instead of Bryce Elder.

Crazier things have happened, and though it’s impossible to replace Sale, it’s a lot more enjoyable to look at the glass half-full.