2025 Fantasy Baseball: Chris Sale Profile, Preview, Predictions
In this story:
After a disappointing three-year run with the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta raised their mast and guided their rudder to Chris Sale last season. He rewarded their trust with a foundation ace season and his first Cy Young Award.
Interesting Cy Young tidbit. 💡
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 21, 2024
Both Tarik Skubal & Chris Sale cut their Changeups to take advantage of Seam Shifted Wake...as opposed to pronating their changeups.
And, neither fully understand how it works. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/3LnZfRTSAH
SP – Chris Sale, ATL (ADP – 37.7)
The Braves wisely acquired Sale last year. His arm returned to elite status, highlighted by an NL Cy Young Award after leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.38), and strikeouts (225). For the fourth time in his career, he had the highest strikeouts per nine (11.4) in his league.
Sale went 10-0 at home with a 2.28 ERA, 0.989 WHIP, and 103 strikeouts. He allowed two or fewer runs in all his final 18 starts (10-2 with a 1.96 ERA and 143 strikeouts over 110.0 innings). Back spasms led to him missing his final two starts.
His average fastball (94.9) aligned with his recent career path. The move to the Braves led to a career-high usage of his slider (40.4%) at the expense of his four-seamer (38.1%). Despite Sale’s success, he only had two elite pitches (slider – .167 BAA and changeup – .153 BAA), but batters had success at times vs. his four-seamer (.270 BAA) and his low-volume sinker (.375 BAA). His HR/FB rate (6.3) was well below his career resume (6.3).
Fantasy Outlook: Based on his command stats, Sale was the same pitcher in 2024 as in his prime. The only difference was his downgrade in innings pitched per start (2024 – 6.1 ~ 6.9 from 2013 to 2017). Atlanta unlocked the life of his pitches in the strike zone last season, and he avoided any major injuries. From 2020 to 2023, Sale was only on the field for 31 starts (11-7 with a 3.93 ERA and 182 strikeouts over 151.0 innings). He is a tempting arm based on his career body of work and rebound season, especially playing in a high-scoring offense. With 32 starts, his overall stats still show room for improvement. Sale is the third pitcher in the top six ranked arm to have a significant jump in innings (68.2).
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Paul Skenes Profile, Preview, Predictions
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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