Well, Atlanta Braves fans have been through the wringer the last 24 hours or so. Failing to beat the Royals on Sunday spoiled a golden opportunity and introduced a nightmare scenario with a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday looming. That nightmare started to quickly become a reality as the Braves blew multiple leads and a fantastic start from Spencer Schwellenbach to get pushed to the brink of playoff elimination.
The Braves' biggest hope in all of this was that they always had Chris Sale in their back pocket as an option to use if they were on the brink of elimination. Well, Game 162 is about to arrive and with mere minutes before the start, Sale was scratched from his start with back spasms and Atlanta is officially in a lot of trouble.
Chris Sale has been scratched with back spasms. Felt it last night
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 30, 2024
Chris Sale scratched just before the biggest game of the Braves' 2024 season
There is no sugarcoating this. To say this is a tremendous blow to the Braves' playoff chances is not hyperbole. It is true that the Mets "probably" won't be playing at full strength in the second half of the doubleheader, they still would love to kick the Braves to the curb if given the opportunity and now they have it with Grant Holmes and the bullpen in charge of the biggest regular season game in recent Braves memory.
There were some lingering concerns about Sale's health after his velocity was down in his last start, but both the Braves and Sale said that nothing was amiss and he would be ready to go. Unfortunately, Sale's age and injury history reared it's ugly head at the worst possible time for Atlanta and there is no guarantee whatsoever anymore that the Braves will make the playoffs at all now. One wondered if his back issue was bothering him before last night, and it was as it turns out.
Sale first felt the back discomfort during the second inning of his start in Cincinnati. That’s when his velo dropped below 90 mph. He kept thinking he could pitch until the discomfort worsened last night.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 30, 2024
There is nothing that be done now. Win against all odds in Game 162 and the Braves are off to the west coast to try and figure out how to beat the Padres potentially without Sale in the NL Wild Card round. If not, the Diamondbacks will sneak into the postseason and the Braves will be sitting out of the playoffs for the first time since 2017.