The Braves haven’t had three starting pitchers make the All-Star team since 1997, but they have an All-Star-worthy trio in 2024.
Max Fried, Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez are having superb seasons atop the Braves’ rotation, largely carrying a club that’s underwhelmed at the plate. If they presented a first-half Cy Young honor, each of the three would rank among the top eight candidates.
Pitchers and reserves for the July 16 game in Arlington, Texas, will be announced Sunday.
The All-Star team can be a numbers game. Pitchers are selected via player balloting and the commissioner’s office. Last year, there were 17 pitchers in each league named All-Stars because there were some who weren’t going to play and some who were replaced.
One way or another, it seems inevitable that the Braves will be sending multiple starters to Texas. Few NL pitchers are more deserving than the Braves’ trio. And that’d be quite an achievement for the franchise. Since moving to Atlanta (1966), the Braves have had three starters make the All-Star team three times:
1993: John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery
1996: Smoltz, Glavine, Greg Maddux
1997: Maddux, Glavine, Denny Neagle
On to 2024: Could Fried, Sale and Lopez join them?
“That would be great,” Sale said. “That would be a lot of fun. I’m not exactly sure how it’s all going to shake out, but the more teammates we can get there, the more fun it would be.”
Each has an excellent case. Lopez, while understandably showing signs of fatigue lately, has been a godsend as a reliever-turned-starter. The Braves signed him last winter and said they’d stretch him out in spring training despite Lopez operating as a reliever over the past two seasons. He’d only started one game from 2022-23 and had 18 starts since 2020.
Yet Lopez has been the Braves’ most consistent starter.
“Reynaldo jumped at the chance to throw more innings and be that guy for us,” catcher Sean Murphy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He was, I guess, an unknown for us coming into the season.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Braves have kept his workload reasonable by getting him routine extra rest, and the strategy has worked beautifully: He owns an MLB-best 1.83 ERA in 15 starts (83-2/3) with an 87:31 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Even considering he’s been fortunate – his 3.12 FIP would suggest some future regression – he’s the delightful surprise of the Braves’ season.
“What Reynaldo has been able to do, transitioning back from a reliever to a starter, and having his first crack at it – and do what he’s done – has been incredible,” Fried said. “To not throw more than 80 innings in three years and then put up the year he’s had and navigate lineups. You can see he has the body of work (from being a starter previously), but he also has that reliever mentality when guys get on base to be able to limit the damage and get out of innings. There are times you need to attack and feel your way out, and I feel like he’s been navigating that extremely well.”
Lopez’s conversion produced outside skepticism initially, but it’s worked out better than anyone, himself included, could’ve imagined. Despite the lower inning total, how could the ERA leader be left off the All-Star team?
“It means a lot (being in the All-Star conversation),” Lopez said. “Being a reliever for almost three years, then to be a starter again this year and how everything’s going right now, it would be awesome to be in the All-Star game. Let’s see what happens.”
Sale, meanwhile, essentially was discarded by the Red Sox after several injury-plagued seasons that limited him to 151 innings from 2020 through 2023. Boston dealt him to the Braves in December for only infielder Vaughn Grissom (who’s hit .148 in 23 games). The Red Sox picked up the tab on some of Sale’s contract, as well, and the Braves ended up extending the lefty before he pitched an inning.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos went 2-for-2 on his rotation bets. Sale has looked like his old dominant, strikeout-laden self. He’s brought a needed fiery presence, and the player-team fit has felt perfect from the get-go. “I don’t know that he could be much better, quite honestly,” manager Brian Snitker said. “One of the most competitive guys I’ve ever been around.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Sale’s name power should benefit him in peer voting, given the leaguewide respect he’s commanded over a 14-year career. Not that he’ll need any boost beyond his magnificent numbers.
“What he’s done with Boston, the White Sox and now here, impressive guy,” Lopez said. “He’s a good dude, good person. When he takes the ball, his face always changes. It’s a ‘game face.’ I love that. You can tell when he’s on the mound, his presence. He’s a good pitcher.”
“The only thing he needs is to be healthy every year. He’s the same as he was two or three years ago. You can see it. He’s throwing 97 (mph), sometimes 98. That’s the thing. If he’s healthy, he can do it. The slider, change-up, fastball; it’s all impressive.”
Sale has a 2.71 ERA over 16 outings. His 99-2/3 innings are already his most since 2019. He’s compiled 127 strikeouts against only 19 walks while holding hitters to a .199 average. His 11.47 strikeouts-per-nine-innings are his best rate since 2019.
“We’ve always known what Chris can do, and what kind of guy he is out on the mound,” Murphy said. “Him going out there and having success is just fun to watch.”
Sale didn’t want to discuss the possibility of making the All-Star team – “I would appreciate it,” he admitted after some prying Wednesday – but others don’t hesitate to brag on the Braves’ newest ace. He’s made a powerful impression throughout the organization.
“To see Chris come back from injury and just being back to himself where he’s pitching, he’s striking out a lot of guys, keeping guys off-balance and him being healthy is just the biggest thing,” Fried said. “So to see (Sale and Lopez) go out there and do their thing, eat innings and dominate teams, it’s been a pleasure to watch.”
Then there’s Fried himself, the Braves’ reliable ace who’s assembled a brilliant contract year. Since allowing 10 earned runs over his first two outings (in just five innings), Fried has a 2.08 ERA while holding opponents to a .196 average. Overall, Fried has a 2.91 ERA with 84 strikeouts and 30 walks.
Perhaps surprisingly, Fried has made only one All-Star game (2019 in his native Los Angeles). Surely, he’d appreciate having another appearance on his resume months from likely testing free agency.
“Any time that you’re selected, especially in pitchers’ cases when it’s your peers, it’s an honor,” Fried said. “It means that guys respect your game and selected you. So to be able to be in those terms, that’s a great honor, and it’s really awesome. But at the same time, there’s so much uncertainty and things out of your control. I’ve got two more starts before the break, and I’m just focusing on making sure when I take those balls the next two games, we can win those.”
It’s fair to ponder if all three will make the team. It’d seem likelier than not, even if one ends up being a replacement. Lopez, who hasn’t always qualified because of his innings management, is the ERA leader. Sale is fourth among NL starters in ERA, while Fried is seventh.
“They all deserve it,” Murphy said. “They all have the numbers, I don’t think there’s any arguing there. To have three starters in the All-Star game would be an incredible testament to those guys, how they’ve shouldered a ton of the load.”
Among the other NL All-Star near-certainties: Zack Wheeler (Phillies), Ranger Suarez (Phillies) and Tyler Glasnow (Dodgers). The Phillies, like the Braves, should have three All-Star starters, with Christopher Sanchez joining the aforementioned two.
The Braves and Phillies combine for five of the six Cy Young favorites, per FanDuel Sportsbook. Wheeler is the current Cy Young favorite (+200) followed by Sale (+270), Glasnow (+650), Suarez (+700), Fried (+800) and Lopez (+2500).
Like the NL East, perhaps the right to start the midsummer classic and the Cy Young Award come down to another version of Braves versus Phillies. For now, the immediate question is whether the Braves’ three front-line starters will be in Arlington next month.
“That would be awesome,” Snitker said. “It’d be a great honor for all of them.”
