<img alt="Colorado Rockies v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qXKcadiQPGCMfQm77iacAvMe95g=/0x0:6386x4257/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73571714/2169502138.0.jpg">
Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
The Cy Young favorite will look to set the tone, as the Braves must keep pace in the wild-card hunt. The Braves and Chris Sale face Toronto and Yariel Rodriguez in the rubbermatch of a three game series. The Cy Young favorite will look to set the tone, as the Braves must keep pace in the wild-card hunt. He may have to win the game nearly by himself for Atlanta, as the offense continues to be heavily depleted by injury. It is expected that Jorge Soler will return to the lineup, but Whit Merrifield will remain out with a foot fracture.
The Toronto starter, Yariel Rodriguez is not very good. A Cuban signed out of the Japenese league this offseason, he has not settled in very well to MLB yet, with a 4.41 xFIP, 4.46 FIP, and 4.61 ERA over 68.1 innings. He has been pretty good in triple-A for Toronto, however. He has some pretty good horizontal movement on his slider and curveball, but throws a mid-90s four-seamer that is very straight as his primary pitch over 40% of the time. He mixes in a splitter and sinker enough of the time to respect them as real pitches. The 6’ righty has a fairly average strikeout rate, but walks more than his fair share of batters. This is the type of opposing starter that Atlanta hitters should look forward to, even as they are missing so many players to injury.
Chris Sale, on the other hand, has been the best pitcher in baseball this season by a fairly large margin, leading the league in fWAR by 0.8. He leads the league in ERA, xERA, FIP, xFIP, and K/9, among qualified pitchers. Incredibly, he is still well below his career high for strikeout rate, and he appears on track for his second-best season by fWAR, barring either disaster or an absolutely incredible September. Unless something crazy happens, he should win the NL Cy Young quite easily and has been one of very few unmitigated bright spots for Atlanta this year. The Braves have needed all of this brilliance, as the offense has scuffled frequently throughout the season. With the offense perhaps in the worst state it has been all season now, with injuries, the Braves need Sale to dominate like he has all season once again Sunday.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, September 8, 1:35 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
XM Radio: Ch. 177
<img alt="Colorado Rockies v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qXKcadiQPGCMfQm77iacAvMe95g=/0x0:6386x4257/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73571714/2169502138.0.jpg">
Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
The Cy Young favorite will look to set the tone, as the Braves must keep pace in the wild-card hunt. The Braves and Chris Sale face Toronto and Yariel Rodriguez in the rubbermatch of a three game series. The Cy Young favorite will look to set the tone, as the Braves must keep pace in the wild-card hunt. He may have to win the game nearly by himself for Atlanta, as the offense continues to be heavily depleted by injury. It is expected that Jorge Soler will return to the lineup, but Whit Merrifield will remain out with a foot fracture.
The Toronto starter, Yariel Rodriguez is not very good. A Cuban signed out of the Japenese league this offseason, he has not settled in very well to MLB yet, with a 4.41 xFIP, 4.46 FIP, and 4.61 ERA over 68.1 innings. He has been pretty good in triple-A for Toronto, however. He has some pretty good horizontal movement on his slider and curveball, but throws a mid-90s four-seamer that is very straight as his primary pitch over 40% of the time. He mixes in a splitter and sinker enough of the time to respect them as real pitches. The 6’ righty has a fairly average strikeout rate, but walks more than his fair share of batters. This is the type of opposing starter that Atlanta hitters should look forward to, even as they are missing so many players to injury.
Chris Sale, on the other hand, has been the best pitcher in baseball this season by a fairly large margin, leading the league in fWAR by 0.8. He leads the league in ERA, xERA, FIP, xFIP, and K/9, among qualified pitchers. Incredibly, he is still well below his career high for strikeout rate, and he appears on track for his second-best season by fWAR, barring either disaster or an absolutely incredible September. Unless something crazy happens, he should win the NL Cy Young quite easily and has been one of very few unmitigated bright spots for Atlanta this year. The Braves have needed all of this brilliance, as the offense has scuffled frequently throughout the season. With the offense perhaps in the worst state it has been all season now, with injuries, the Braves need Sale to dominate like he has all season once again Sunday.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, September 8, 1:35 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
XM Radio: Ch. 177
Link to original article
