Chris Sale's dominant complete game shutout against the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers will be remembered for a long time. In a much needed outing from their ace, the Atlanta Braves were not only able to win a tight 1-0 match against one of the best teams in baseball, they were also able to complete the sweep, and keep their hopes alive for a playoff bye.
But with Sale almost undoubtly pushing himself to his limits on Thursday, the Braves will likely reshuffle their rotation and their September roster plans to make sure that they can give their ace the rest he deserves for the final month of the season.
September expanded rosters coming just in time to help out Braves rotation
The Braves are already running out a six-man rotation, with Tyler Mahle, Martín Pérez, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, and AJ Smith-Shawver following Sale. However, with the way the schedule plays out, Sale would be scheduled to start on September 2 in the finale against the Washington Nationals.
If Sale were to start against the Nationals on Wednesday, he'd miss the team's four-game series against the Phillies starting on September 4, and subsequently miss the Phillies in their three-game series the following week.
However, with the expanded rosters coming up on Tuesday, the Braves have the option of bringing up a seventh starter. While this wouldn't immediately help a bullpen that's somewhat depleted, it would give Sale the extra rest, and put him in line for at least one start against the Phillies, and potentially two of the games against the Phillies if they use the seventh starter twice.
The most obvious would be to activate Reynaldo Lopez from the IL and have him start. Lopez started his rehab assignment last week, and is scheduled to start his second rehab game on Friday, which would put him at a manageable four days' rest to start on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
While the Braves would have likely preferred to add an extra reliever to their bullpen for their 14th pitcher when rosters expand, there's no doubt that between Sale going the distance, and the importance of their series against the Phillies, that the best use of the extra pitcher would be to simply add yet another starter.
Add us as a preferred source on Google