Braves Sale-Baldwin Battery Nearly Perfect in Debut

Chris Sale made his second start of the Spring for the Atlanta Braves and looked sharp while paired up with his new catcher

Sale was masterful with the top prospect as the catcher | Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A new battery made its debut for the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday and didn’t disappoint. Chris Sale took the mound against the Minnesota Twins partnered up with top prospect and catcher Drake Baldwin behind the dish.

Baldwin, who had been a designated hitter to start Spring Training, got his first start at catcher following the injury to Sean Murphy. The Braves starting catcher suffered a cracked rib and is expected to miss four to six weeks – including the start of the regular season.

The reigning Cy Young Award winner and rising prospect were a good pair. Sale pitched four no-hit, shutout innings allowing just a walk and a hit by pitch while striking out four. He threw 59 pitches and threw 40 of them for strikes (67.8%).

Sale hit the first batter of the game and then sat down the next nine hitters he faced. He then walked the leadoff batter in the top of the fourth before getting the next three outs in a row. 

In the second inning, he induced a flyout caught on a leaping catch by Michael Harris II in center, a flyout to left and then picked up his first strikeout of Spring Training.

Once he got that first strikeout, they kept coming. The pitched a perfect third inning and struck out two more. His fourth strikeout of the game closed out his fourth and final inning of work.

The Braves were looking to get four innings out of Sale in his second start of the Spring, and they got just that.

Through two starts, Sale has pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just the walk and the hit by pitched. His first appearances featured two perfect innings.

This strong performance bodes well for Baldwin. He needs to impress enough to justify being added to the 40-man roster along, let alone the Opening Day roster and starting lineup. A hitless day is a good first impression.

At the time of the posting of this story, the Braves and Twins are tied with no score heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.