LOS ANGELES — In the middle of 2020, Chris Sale was achy. He’s never been one to have achy ankles and knees – and he knocks on wood when saying this – but he remembers his knees really bothering him at that time.
“I was like, ‘I’m not doing anything for these things to hurt like this,’” Sale recalled.
So, with the encouragement of his wife, Brianne – who is into health and nutrition – Sale took a step that changed his career: He got a blood test. And with it, came a new diet and improved it.
Well, eventually.
At first, when the doctor recommended Sale cut out gluten and make other dietary changes, he was not having it.
“The doctor was like, ‘Hey man, this is the deal,’” Sale said. “And I said no. I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna do it.’ I was like, ‘You’re full of it, man. I’m not doing it.’ And he’s like, ‘All right, go for it.’ And I want to say, maybe a few weeks later, I come back with my tail tucked between my legs. It was bothering me, so I was like, ‘I gotta do something. I can’t live on Advil every freaking day.’”
So he tried the gluten-free diet. He began eating more cooked foods instead of process foods. He tried to prioritize sleep. And he’s now taking more vitamins – A, B, C, fish oil, magnesium – to aid his health.
With the changes, the achiness in his body subsided. He still dealt with injuries in the couple of years that followed, but those had more to do, Sale said, “with just baseball being baseball.”
“Just try to do what I can,” Sale, now 35, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the visiting dugout at Dodger Stadium. “I’m not here saving the world. It’s not like I’m doing anything wild or crazy. I knew it was something that I could do better, my wife has a lot of knowledge in it and helped me out a lot with it, and it’s not gonna hurt. And not for nothing, it’s not impossible to do now because most places have (gluten-free) options. And you can always eat green beans with a chicken breast or a piece of beef – a piece of steak, whatever – and you’ll be good.”
Gluten is the term for the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and triticale – the last of which is a mix between wheat and rye. In other words: No McDonald’s, no Taco Bell, no Pizza Hut, etc. And no beer.
At the grocery store, certain snacks might come with the “gluten free” label. But at a restaurant, where cross-contamination can occur, eating gluten-free can be difficult.
Switching to a gluten-free diet is tough because gluten is hidden in so many foods you wouldn’t think about – a condiment, for example. Gluten isn’t only bread. But it also has been a rough adjustment because, well, places like McDonald’s and Taco Bell taste great.
“I used to be very bad about my diet,” Sale said. “Read articles about me when I was younger. I was eating 20 bags of chips on the plane, McDonald’s and Taco Bell a couple times a week. It was not good. If there was one thing that I definitely could’ve done better throughout my career, it was that. And then obviously having to deal with all this (injury) stuff over the last few years, I had enough time to look into it and kind of get on a better diet and get on a better schedule, and stuff like that.”
Brianne Sale has always been on the healthier side, Chris said. But over the past five or six years, he added, “she’s dialed in.” She takes health classes. The Sales have an office in their home, and Brianne often spends time there doing research.
Chris continues to accept these changes from a few years ago. And over this past offseason, Brianne added another resource for Chris: The couple began subscribing to Elevated Eats, which customizes meal prep for athletes. Chris got another blood test, and the company used that panel to create a diet with appropriate meal options.
“It’s easier for me to do as I’m told, you know?” Sale said. “Like, ‘Hey Chris, eat this today, eat this today, take these at night, drink this in the morning.’ That’s so easy for me! Very much like my catchers. ‘Throw this pitch here.’ OK, cool. ‘Throw this pitch here now.’ All right, cool. It’s being able to just kind of wake up and literally grab it out of the refrigerator, put it in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 (degrees), and then I got food to eat. Pretty simple, you know?”
And Sale’s view on sleep reflects his maturity. How does improved sleep show up on the mound? It’s difficult to pinpoint. But it cannot be a negative.
“I can sleep 10 hours the night before a start and go out there and stink. You know what I mean?” Sale said. “And we can have a late-night flight into a city and I get four hours of sleep and go out there and have a good game. And vice versa, right? It’s not really one thing, specifically. It’s just everything combined. You gotta put good fuel in your body, and you have to recover. Sleeping is the best way to recover. You can do all the machines, you can take pills, you can do whatever, but sleeping is the best, natural way for your body to rest, recover and get back to where you need to go. Just putting more emphasis on that.”
Sale isn’t necessarily gluten intolerant, he said. He just stays away from it. If Sale ate a pizza right now, he wouldn’t feel bad. He wouldn’t get a stomach ache or get sick.
It’s more cumulative for him. “If I were to do that for a couple weeks, then I’d start feeling like crap,” he said. So he stays away from it. He likened it to someone cutting out sugars.
“Sugars taste really good, right?” he said. “Like, eating Oreos is awesome, and ice cream is great. But if someone is like, ‘Ah, I’m gonna eat less sugar,’ it’s just always gonna be better for you.”
Knock on wood, but it seems the changes Sale made in mid-to-late 2020 have helped him. And after a few years of injuries, Sale in 2023 spent time on the injured list, but started 20 games for the first time since 2019.
In six starts this season, Sale has posted a 3.44 ERA. He has 42 strikeouts in 36-2/3 innings. He’s looked like his old self – again, knock on wood. His stuff has, for the most part, been nasty.
And Sale, with a fiery competitiveness and tons of experience, is a positive influence for his teammates. He can teach them a lot. Or they can simply watch as he sets an example.
“Well, it’s the greatest thing when you have somebody like that you can watch and ask questions to,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “A guy that’s had the success that he has, and how he goes about it and his approach, and all that – guys always learn from each other, I think, and it’s good when you have guys like that.”
Sale’s gluten-free diet has worked too well not to continue doing it. “It’s just healthier,” he said. So he’ll keep staying away from it.
With maybe one exception.
“But I gotta have In-N-Out while I’m out here,” Sale said, referencing the popular West Coast burger chain. “I’m gonna have two double-doubles and then I’m back on the grind.”
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