Chris Sale to Start Wild Card Opener for Braves After Earning 2026 Brave of the Year Honor
Chris Sale will start Game 1 of the Wild Card series when the playoffs begin Sept. 29 at Truist Park. The left-hander was named the 2026 Brave of the Year…
Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on September 11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty ImagesChris Sale will start Game 1 of the Wild Card series when the playoffs begin Sept. 29 at Truist Park. The left-hander was named the 2026 Brave of the Year by the Atlanta chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Thursday.
Atlanta enters the final weekend at 93-65 with the National League East title secured. The club is expected to be the No. 3 seed, which means a best-of-three Wild Card series at home rather than a first-round bye.
The 37-year-old finished 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA across 27 starts. He threw 162 2/3 innings, struck out 200 batters and walked 31. His WHIP was 0.98.
Manager Walt Weiss managed Sale's workload carefully all year, giving him extra rest between outings so he made 27 starts instead of a more typical 30 to 32. His final regular season appearance came Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. Sale worked 5 2/3 innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked none and struck out 10.
The 10th strikeout gave him his ninth career 200-strikeout season. He becomes the second left-hander, after Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, to reach that mark nine or more times. Sale moved into 26th place on the all-time strikeout list with 2,779.
The outing left him with five days of rest before the postseason begins. Weiss has said throughout the year that the extra days between starts were designed to position Sale for October.
The Braves close the regular season against the Miami Marlins this weekend. The identity of their Wild Card opponent remains unsettled.
