Chris Sale returns against Philadelphia

Wins and losses are fairly trivial this point, as the playoffs are pretty much off the table, although there is some real value in draft position. Chris Sale returns for Atlanta after breaking his ribs diving for a ball, as he wanted to get back to pitching competitively in preparation for a normal offseason.

The 36-year-old Sale was having a great season after a couple shaky (and unlucky) starts to begin the season, before the injury derailed him. He boasted a 2.69 FIP and a 3.20 xFIP over his 89.1

innings and was generally performing in line with his career baseline, which is quite possibly looking like a Hall of Fame career if he can put another good season or two together. Tomorrow will be about avoiding injuries for the injury-plagued veteran and hoping Chris can find his stuff and command in his few starts before the offseason.

On the other side, the Phillies will start Cristopher Sanchez, a Cy Young candidate behind the favorite, Paul Skenes. Sanchez had a really good year last year, on the back of a low walk rate and a high ground ball rate. He’s taken another step this year, with a jump from solidly below average to solidly above average in terms of strikeout rate, while maintaining his walk and ground ball rates. That’s a pretty fantastic improvement. Sanchez is a very impressive pitcher, with a three pitch mix from the left side with good velocity and elite extension at 6’6. He throws his sinker nearly half of the time with a fantastic changeup as his best pitch and a very vertical slider to round out his arsenal. All of his pitches err on the arm side relative to league average shape for the pitch type.

If Chris Sale looks like himself, we could be in for a treat of a pitching matchup, though it will be very difficult for the Braves to beat the Phillies with Sanchez on the mound.