The Atlanta Braves have placed starting pitcher Chris Sale on the 15 day injured list due to a fracture on the left side of his ribcage. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner is believed to have sustained the injury during his start on Wednesday when he made a diving stop in the 9th inning.
The IL move is backdated to Thursday, making him first eligible to come off the injured list in early July. At the moment it remains unclear whether or not he will need an extended stay away from the team, or whether a rehab stint may be in the cards.
“He was doing his exercises yesterday and felt like something wasn’t right, so they had him looked at and it showed what it showed,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “With bone’s like that, they’ve got to heal before you can start the process, but I have no idea how long it will be.”
News of Sale’s injury reinforces Atlanta’s decision to promote top prospect Didier Fuentes to their Major League roster, despite not appearing to have any holes in their starting rotation. Fuentes, who just turned 20 last week, took the loss vs. the Marlins on Friday, going 5 innings, and giving up 4 earned runs.
Sale has posted another dominant first half to the MLB season, registering a 2.52 ERA to go along with 114 Ks, across 89.1IP. The 36 year old has struck out 30.8% of the batters he’s faced while walking just 7% of opponents.
The silver lining in the injury news is that the rib fracture came on the opposite side of where the hard throwing lefty previously suffered a rib injury. Back in 2022, Sale suffered a stress fracture in his right ribcage which cost him the first half of the season. If he were to miss a similar amount of time, he would essentially be shelved until the last few weeks of 2025.
Atlanta is already without Reynaldo Lopez who underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, and AJ Smith-Shawver who is done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. As a result, it’s highly likely that Fuentes will stick around the Braves MLB roster for a while longer, as the rookie figures to occupy the team’s 5th starting spot for the time being.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled LHP Austin Cox to fill Sale’s roster spot. Atlanta is next in action Saturday afternoon vs. the Marlins at 4:10pm ET.
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