Chris Sale to miss Game 2 of NLDS as Braves turn to bullpen again

Atlanta Braves ace left-hander Chris Sale will not start Game 2 of the NLDS on Sunday, the team announced. Sale got four outs and threw 21 pitches to close out Game 3 of the Wild Card Series on Thursday.

"At the end of the day, we want full-strength Chris Sale," Braves manager Walt Weiss said ahead of Game 2. "I'm not sure you're getting the best version of him starting today."

Instead, lefty Ray Kerr, who turned in a heroic 3 ⅓-inning outing as an opener in Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, will open Game 2 on Sunday. Righty Grant Holmes seems likely to again follow Kerr as the bulk reliever. He threw two innings and 28 pitches on Thursday. Game 2 will be Atlanta's third straight bullpen game, for all intents and purposes.

The Braves typically give Sale, 37, extra rest between starts. He started on normal rest only twice during the regular season, both times back in April, and he started only three of Atlanta's final 28 regular-season games as they managed his workload. Sale won the 2024 Cy Young award but was not available that postseason because a back issue popped up late in the regular season.

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Sale allowed three runs in 6 ⅓ innings in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday. He threw 95 pitches. Sale then came out of the bullpen to get four outs in Game 3 on Thursday. It was the first time he pitched with one day of rest since he was a reliever with the Chicago White Sox in 2011. He hadn't pitched on even three days of rest since the 2018 postseason.

The Braves came into the postseason with a small army of starting pitchers on the injured list. Their rotation is very compromised at the moment. Here is the team's starting pitcher depth chart:

LHP Chris Sale

RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (out with elbow surgery)

RHP Spencer Strider (out with elbow inflammation)

RHP Tyler Mahle

RHP Grant Holmes

RHP Reynaldo López (out with shoulder inflammation)

RHP Bryce Elder (out with knee surgery)

LHP Martín Pérez (out with back inflammation)

RHP AJ Smith-Shawver

RHP JR Ritchie

RHP Hurston Waldrep (out with Tommy John surgery)

Mahle suffered a minor abdominal injury warming up prior to Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, but started the game anyway, and allowed one run in seven innings. He threw 95 pitches. Lefty Dylan Dodd started Game 1 of the NLDS as an opener, tossed three scoreless innings, then Smith-Shawver followed as the bulk reliever.

Another bullpen game was Atlanta's only real alternative to Sale in Game 2. Mahle would be on short rest and that might not even be possible for him as he deals with the abdominal issue. Other than Mahle on short rest, Kerr plus Holmes or Ritchie is the best the Braves can put out there Sunday, given the available personnel.

Sale being unable to start Game 2 has a trickle-down effect later in the series too. Starting Game 2 would have allowed Sale to also start Game 5 on normal rest, if necessary. Assuming he starts Game 3, Sale can now only start one game in the NLDS, though perhaps another relief appearance is possible. And if Sale can't start Game 3, then the Braves would be in major trouble.