Braves Chris Sale Perfect Against Twins in Spring Training Debut

The Atlanta Braves ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner has masterful in his first start of the spring schedule

Sale shut down the Twins to open the Spring Training season / Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Reigning Cy Young Award winner and Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale was perfect in his 2025 Spring Training debut. Yes, perfect in that sense. 

He pitched two innings. Six Minnesota Twins hitters came up to the plate and he sat all of them down. No strikeouts were required to take them out either. It took four ground outs, a line out and a pop-up to get it done. 

Sale was efficient, only needing 21 pitches. Among those six outs included some of the Twins' top hitters including shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder Byron Buxton. 

It’s early in Spring, but a healthy Sale with plenty of rest over the offseason is sharp on the mound. 

Sale comes into 2025 looking to show that his comeback season won’t be a one-off. His Cy Young-winning, Triple Crown-winning season saw him finish 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA, a 174 ERA+, a 1.01 WHIP and 225 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings. 

He also won the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award and was also received the comeback honor by The Sporting News and the Players Choice Awards. The players also named him the NL’s Outstanding Pitcher. 

Along with the pitching accolades, Sale earned his first career Gold Glove. 

Heading into Spring Training, FanGraphs projected Chris Sale to finish the 2025 season with a 14-8 record, a 3.07 ERA, a 4.6 WAR, a 1.07 WHIP and 230 strikeouts in 187 innings pitched over 31 starts. 

At the posting of this story, the Braves were leading the Twins 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning in Fort Meyers. The two are facing off in the first Spring Training game of the season for either team. 

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