Chris Sale is probably winning the National League Cy Young award after the year he’s had for the Atlanta Braves. It made perfect sense that in a must-win Game 2 of Monday’s doubleheader — which is basically a pre-playoffs playoff game, win or go home.
But then news dropped that Sale was scratched from the start. Why? Because of back spasms.
It also would have made sense that the news wouldn’t have come out until after Game 1 so that the Braves knew the result — a win and they could have saved Sale for the playoffs.
Now, they’ll be without him either way.
Chris Sale scratched due to back spasms. Grant Holmes starts Game 2.
The pitcher threw a 97 MPH fastball to Casey Schmitt on Monday, and the San Francisco Giants shortstop hit it back harder — it was measured at 104 MPH.
Now, that could have hurt A LOT. Luckily, for what it’s worth, it wasn’t hit at Sale’s head, and the pitcher made an athletic play with his glove and snagged it, falling off the mound to complete the play. What’s more, it was the end of the fifth inning and he grinned as he walked to the dugout.
Chris Sale will get a chance at another World Series title with Atlanta
The Atlanta Braves are adding to their world-class starting rotation once again, making a big move to acquire left-hander Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Sale reportedly waived his no-trade clause to join an Atlanta team that expects to contend for another World Series title in 2024. The Braves are sending 22-year-old Vaughn Grissom back to Boston after a logjam in the infield led the team to shop their young bat this offseason.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been the most aggressive team in the National League this offseason, landing both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Now the Braves have struck back in the race for the pennant by adding a seven-time All-Star.
On its face, Sale’s frustration was understandable, considering how little he has pitched in the big leagues over the last two years. That said, a meltdown that turns into a player trashing things will almost always draw some kind of criticism.
In an on-field interview with reporters on Thursday, Sale responded to any blowback from the film video. Let’s just say he did not appear to show much remorse for the incident.
Chris Sale addresses what he called his “temper tantrum” yesterday; said the team has a really nice present coming. pic.twitter.com/9tBkoapVFV
Oh. Oh, wow. Let’s rewind the main part of that quote in context.
“I acted like an idiot last night, and I’ve acted like an idiot before … It happens, right? I wouldn’t be here without [emotion] … It’s who I am. It’s what makes me a big leaguer. It’s what makes me good at my job.”
Uh, alright, Chris. But how does he feel about being filmed while showing no regard for inanimate objects?
Bad to be caught on video?
Sale: “That’s their problem for videoing it. If you want me to act like a normal person, treat me like a normal person. This isn’t a normal atmosphere. If I was at Bank of America, that wouldn’t fly.”
Chris Sale was NOT happy about his start for Worcester.
Chris Sale had quite a road back to pitching for the Boston Red Sox last season after missing all of 2020.
And in 2022, he’s coming back from a fractured rib cage. On Wednesday, he pitched for the Worcester Red Sox, he had some struggles that included five walks. He wasn’t very happy about it, and cameras caught the pitcher trashing something near the clubhouse on the wall.
“Pfffff. Not good,” he said of the start, per the Boston Globe, although he didn’t appear to be asked about the meltdown after. “I was just out there fishing today … Nothing to hang your hat on, that’s for sure.”
The Houston Astros will meet the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the ALCS on Tuesday night from Fenway Park, stream it here live.
The Houston Astros will meet the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the ALCS on Tuesday night from Fenway Park.
The Astros were able to take one away from the hometown Red Sox in Game 4 when they stormed back from a 2-1 game to win 9-2. This has been a series full of runs and I don’t see that stopping tonight. Boston will be looking to take a 3-2 series lead before heading back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday.
In Game 5, we’ll see Framber Valdez on the mound for the Astros against Chris Sale for the Sox, here is everything else you need to know.
MLB odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Thursday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Houston Astros (+105) vs. Boston Red Sox (-125)
O/U: 9.5
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The Boston Red Sox will meet the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in Game 2 of the American League Division Series from Tropicana Field.
The Boston Red Sox will meet the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in Game 2 of the American League Division Series from Tropicana Field.
The Red Sox will look to bounce back in game two tonight while the Rays didn’t waste any time putting up 5 runs on Boston. This will be a fantastic game, here is everything you need to catch the action tonight.
MLB odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Boston Red Sox (+120) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (-145)
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We’re only a few days into the 2021 Little League World Series, and we’ve already seen some incredible pitching performances.
Washington’s Eli Jones threw a no-hitter to avoid elimination in a win over Florida, which included a classy moment with Florida coach Mark Rodgers. But the early talk of the tournament has been all about South Dakota and its young pitching star Gavin Weir.
Weir led South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Little League team to a 2-0 win over Louisiana at the LLWS on Friday. Weir struck out 15 batters in 5.2 innings before a teammate finished off the game for the combined no-hitter. And that performance wasn’t a fluke: Weir has been dominant throughout the district, regionals and LLWS.
Previewing the American League Cy Young Award odds, with MLB betting odds, picks and best bets
Ordinarily, I avoid taking the low-return picks when you’re taking one player against the field, but the race for the 2020 American League Cy Young Award got interesting in a hurry with preseason injuries.
As a result, the options for picking the Cy Young winner have slimmed down with three weeks to go until the season’s first pitch.
As of 5 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8, BetMGM has 12 other pitchers with odds of less than +3000:
Gerrit Cole (+265)
Justin Verlander (+600)
Chris Sale (+650)
Mike Clevinger (+1000)
Blake Snell; Charlie Morton (+1100)
Shane Bieber (+1600)
Tyler Glasnow; Carlos Carrasco (+2000)
Lucas Giolito; Zach Grienke; Corey Kluber (+2500)
American League Cy Young: Breaking down the field
The field is going to shift like a pendulum with spring training injuries to Sale and Snell. Both are expected to miss significant time, which will likely take them out of the running.
And Sunday afternoon, the Astros pulled Verlander after two innings of a scheduled four-inning start due to triceps soreness. There is no word on whether Verlander could miss any time, but it’s yet another injury to keep an eye on.
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One thing that is crystal clear is that BetMGM has a lot of faith in the Tampa Bay starting rotation. Three of the top eight plays are Rays (Snell, Morton and Glasnow). I don’t share that opinion because they’re reaching on expectation for both Snell (injured) and Glasnow (unproven). The club is formidable, but that prevents the Rays from relying on one or two guys and occasionally pushing them up in the rotation when scheduled off days or rainouts bring an ace’s start time back up.
Clevinger and Bieber are another tandem that are intriguing, but the Indians may not provide the consistent run support needed to post the numbers that make a player stand out in the Cy Young race.
Astros ace Justin Verlander is off to a shaky start this spring. (Photo Credit: Troy Taormina – USA TODAY Sports)
Verlander remains a dominant pitcher and is coming off a 21-win, 300-strikeout year and was a whopping 7.8 games above replacement. But, at age 37, the wall for starting pitchers with his mileage numbers is getting closer (as evidenced by Sunday’s news).
But, if you’re betting on this race, you have to go with Cole, despite the small return on investment. He was a good in Pittsburgh but became elite when he went to Houston before the 2018 season. In two seasons with the Astros, Cole made 65 starts and posted a record of 35-10 with 602 strikeouts in 412 2/3 innings, a 0.962 WHIP and a 2.68 ERA. He now goes to the Yankees where he can expect a lot of run support every start and get the wins to match or surpass what he did with the Astros. New York has eyes on the Yankees 24/7 and he has the chance to be the big man in the Big Apple.
THE BET: Take Cole and don’t look back. If you’re looking for a long shot to drop a few bucks on, consider Minnesota’s Jose Berrios (+4000). He is the staff ace of a team capable of winning 100 games again this year. When he is on his game, he can be dominant. Consistency is all that’s missing and he will be playing from ahead. Don’t break the bank on him, but, at +4000, you don’t have to.
Want to get some action on MLB futures betting? Do you have what it takes to pick this season’s winners before the season even starts? Place legal sports bets online at BetMGM.
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