Sale placed on IL with fractured left rib cage
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MIAMI -- The Braves placed reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a fractured left rib cage. The injury occurred during his start on Wednesday.
“It happened in the ninth inning the other day when he went after that ball just off the mound and made a diving play, great play,’’ Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said before the Braves' 7-0 victory over the Marlins on Saturday afternoon at loanDepot Park.
“He was doing his exercises yesterday and felt like something wasn’t right, so they had him looked at it, and it showed what it showed. … It’s just a freak thing. An unfortunate thing. I saw him after the game that night and he was doing his postgame workout. And then I saw him the next day and I think he maybe felt a little uncomfortable the next day. But then yesterday is when he wanted to get it checked out.”
Snitker did not have a time frame for when Sale might return.
"With bones like that, they’ve got to heal before you can start the process, but I have no idea how long it will be," Snitker said.
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The IL stint is backdated to Thursday. Left-hander Austin Cox was recalled to Atlanta in a corresponding move.
Sale (4-3, 2.77 ERA) is coming off his best start of the season, a scoreless gem vs. the Mets, in which he tossed 116 pitches over 8 2/3 innings.
He has picked up the win in three of his past four starts and is 2-1 this month with a 0.83 ERA after allowing two earned runs in 21 2/3 innings.
"It’s a big blow, but we’re going to come to the ballpark and try to put some 'W's' on the board every day," said Saturday's starter Grant Holmes, who scattered five hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. “It sucks, honestly. He’s a very big part of this team. A very good leader. Hopefully, he’ll stay around and be with the guys. Having Chris Sale in the clubhouse speaks for itself. He’s a great leader. A great teammate. A great friend.”
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Didier Fuentes, 20, made his MLB debut against the Marlins on Friday night after being called up from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day.
He is the youngest MLB pitcher to start a game since Julio Urías with the Dodgers in 2019 and the youngest to pitch for the Braves since 1970.
Fuentes, rated Atlanta’s No. 10 prospect, allowed four runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out three in the Braves’ 6-2 loss to the Marlins.
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“We’ll just go with the five guys we’ve got,’’ Stitker said. “It’s just good to get the first one out of the way. I was very impressed with how he handled everything. His calm, his demeanor, everything on the mound, it was like he belonged out there.
“In between innings, I never felt any panic in him. He’s a very impressive young man. His stuff is really, really good. … I think the sky’s the limit for a young man like that.”