As Braves general manager, Alex Anthopoulos started 6-for-6 – six seasons, six division titles. In none of those was he named MLB executive of the year, the 2021 voting having been done before his greatest triumph – the World Series win with his Whole New Outfield – played out.
He won’t win this year, either. GMs whose teams win 16 fewer games – the 2023 Braves were 104-58; this year’s bunch is on track to finish 88-74 – aren’t often honored. Here, though, we pause to contemplate where this club would be without two Anthopoulos moves, neither guaranteed to succeed.
On Dec. 30, the Braves sent Vaughn Grissom, their best prospect, to Boston for Chris Sale, then 34. Since 2019, Sale had worked 151 innings. The Red Sox were so eager to be rid of him that they agreed to eat $17 million of his $27.5M salary. Six days later, the Braves redid Sale’s deal, now running through 2025 at a total of $38M. Here’s what they’ve gotten for their money:
The MLB leader in ERA. And the MLB leader in wins. And the MLB leader in strikeouts.
Those categories constitute the Triple Crown for pitchers. Since World War II, only 11 men have managed the feat: Sandy Koufax (three times), Steve Carlton, Dwight Gooden, Roger Clemens (twice), Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Shane Bieber.
Not, we note, Greg Maddux. Or Tom Glavine or John Smoltz. Or Warren Spahn, for that matter. Only once has a Braves’ pitcher taken a Triple Crown. The year was 1889, and John Clarkson wasn’t technically a Brave. He was a Beaneater, the franchise then based in Boston.
Counting Tuesday’s seven scoreless innings against Colorado, Sale has strung together 15 consecutive starts of two-or-fewer earned runs. Since ERA became an official stat, no Brave has managed a longer run over a single season. (Maddux had 16 over two seasons – his final 13 starts of 1993 and his first three of ‘94. He was pretty good.)
In 2021, Anthopoulos landed the NLCS MVP (Eddie Rosario) and the World Series MVP (Jorge Soler) at the trade deadline. On the penultimate day of 2023, he acquired the pitcher who will surely win the National League Cy Young award. From 2012 through 2018, Sale finished sixth or better in the voting. This from the Braves’ ace stat folks: Assuming he finally claims it, Sale will have more career strikeouts than any first-time Cy.
The Braves wanted Sale because they ran low on starting pitchers last September and especially in October. The memory of Bryce Elder – second-half ERA of 5.11 – starting Game 3 in Philadelphia will never fade. They’d have been happy had Sale given them 20 or so solid starts from April through September, but mostly they wanted him for what comes after September. Funny how things work out.
If not for Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, a reliever signed for $30M over three seasons last November, the Braves would have no hope of reaching October. And, as sublime as Sale has been, he wouldn’t be leading his team in ERA had Lopez logged 138 innings, as opposed to 121-2/3. Sale’s ERA is 2.46; Lopez’s is 2.00. (To qualify for the ERA title, a pitcher must average one inning per scheduled game.)
Even without Spencer Strider, the Braves lead the majors in starters’ WAR, as calculated by FanGraphs, and fielding independent pitching. That’s due to Sale and Lopez, who have surpassed all expectations. And here’s the best part: Of Sale’s 26 starts, only five have come on fewer than five days’ rest; of Lopez’s 22, only four have. They should have something left.
Starting pitching is the reason the Braves will make it to October. Starting pitching is the reason they’ll have a fighting chance once there. If Max Fried, who has won a World Series clincher, is your Game 3 starter, you’ve got a shot.
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