Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale will face off head-to-head against one of the most exciting pitchers in MLB.
The Atlanta Braves will head to American Family Field to face the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend for one of the best series matchups in the National League this season. The stakes are huge for Atlanta entering Thursday. They currently sit in the third seed, chasing down both the Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
If the Braves can sweep Milwaukee, it would put them right back in the mix for a top two seed and a highly-coveted first-round bye. If the season ended now, Atlanta would win the NL East but would be forced to play in a wild card series, making this weekend trip extremely important.
Atlanta is sending three of its top arms for the series, with ace left-hander Chris Sale getting the ball for Game 1.
Sale will be on extra rest after the Braves recalled AJ Smith-Shawver from Triple-A for a start earlier this week, meaning he should be at his absolute best when he takes the mound Friday.
However, he may not even be the best pitcher in the game. Milwaukee announced its starters for the series and will counter with NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski. Barring a collapse over the final six weeks, the award appears destined to be his.
Sale is certainly in the conversation and may well finish as runner-up to Misiorowski at season's end, making this one of the premier pitching matchups of the year.
Sale has made 22 starts this season, posting a 2.16 ERA with 160 strikeouts across 129 innings of work. He has remained dominant despite being in his age-37 season with significant mileage on his arm.
Misiorowski is a different story entirely. This marks just his second season in the big leagues. Last year he had an up-and-down campaign moving between starting and relief roles, but this year he has fully broken out behind his electric triple-digit fastball.
Across 23 starts, the 24-year-old right-hander has posted an MLB-best 1.75 ERA with a league-leading 210 strikeouts in just 139 innings of work, along with a 0.748 WHIP that also leads all of baseball. He has also completely overwhelmed teams at times, striking out multiple hitters in a row frequently.
Sale and Misiorowski represent different eras of the game, and their Friday matchup is one of the most compelling pitching duels the league has produced all year. It could also serve as a preview of a potential National League Divisional Series.
