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Chris Sale 2024 Player Outlook: Swing And Miss Stuff, Great Environment, But Problematic Injury History
11 months agoAs with the last several seasons for Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale, 2023 was marred by injury. The lanky lefty missed more than two months with a shoulder issue, however, when he did pitch he showed he could still be very effective. His final line was 6-5 with a 4.30 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 22.6% K-BB%, and 125 K in 102 2/3 IP. The 7x All-Star still had an elite-level K% at 29.4% and the FIP of 3.80 (3.72 xFIP) suggested he pitched better than the 4.30 ERA implied. The former first-round pick also had a good SwStr% of 13.2% and 36.6% O-Swing%. For managers interested in Sale, the good news is that he went into the offseason healthy. He'll be pitching for a team that led the entire league last season in runs scored per game and will be expected to be near the top again in 2024. It seems projections are forecasting him to miss some time at some point, with ATC projecting 23 starts and 122 IP, going 8-6 with a 3.84 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 21.6% K-BB%, and 143 K. With those numbers, RotoBaller ranks the southpaw at 185, which means he's not expected to return value on his NFBC ADP of 172.
