Chris Sale looked good in his first game with the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, except for one thing.
Kyle Schwarber, who used to play with Sale on the Red Sox, hit a home run on Sale's second pitch of the game, welcoming him to the National League East. The ball traveled 382 feet to right field at a speed of 114.4 mph.
Schwarber and Sale briefly played together in Boston after Schwarber joined the team in 2021, and they experienced an unexpected playoff run. Despite being expected to finish last, the Red Sox made it to the AL Wild Cards, beat the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, and finally lost to the Astros in Game 6 of the ALCS.
Apart from that, the 35-year-old left-hander's performance was good. He pitched for 5 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, walking two, hitting a batter, and striking out seven. He threw 83 pitches, with 56 of them being strikes (67.4%).
This was Sale's longest season debut since 2018. He pitched on Opening Day in 2019 in Seattle, but the Mariners removed him from the game after three innings, having allowed seven earned runs. After missing the entire 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery and starting the following two seasons on the injured list, Sale only lasted three innings in his 2023 debut, being tagged by the Orioles for seven earned runs. In his 20 starts for the Sox last season, he only threw 83 or more pitches in nine of them.
Sale spent six seasons in Boston after being traded from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016. Before his career was interrupted by injuries, he was named an All-Star in consecutive years in 2017 and 2018, finished second and fourth in the AL Cy Young voting, and had a memorable performance in the ninth inning to secure the 2018 World Series.
The Red Sox traded Sale to the Braves shortly before the new year in exchange for infielder Vaughn Grissom. Vaughn Grissom. As a player with 10-and-5 rights, he had to agree to the trade.
