Coming off winning the NL Cy Young, expectations for Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale were understandably high. Assuming that the veteran lefty would be that good again was always unrealistic, but many thought that Sale would be among the better pitchers in the NL again in 2025 especially since it seemed like he was healthy.
Unfortunately, that isn’t really what has happened. Blaming some mechanical flaws that have impacted his arm angle, Sale’s fastball velocity has been inconsistent and, to quote Sale himself, “I just hate sucking, and I’m just bad.” That is a bit hyperbolic as Sale has been shaky, but not a total disaster. However, he is clearly not right at the moment despite some recent improvements and that has proven costly for the Braves.
Complicating the picture, some of the issues that Sale is dealing with are very unfamiliar for him and don’t have an easy fix available.
Chris Sale’s fastball and changeup have both cratered in 2025
For a long time, Sale’s fastball has not been particularly overwhelming. He throws it reasonably hard, but the pitch hasn’t ever really overpowered hitters and more has served as a compliment to his secondary pitches that are truly excellent. However, it was still a decent pitch and unfortunately for him, it has been anything but decent this season.
So far, Sale has thrown 179 four seam fastballs with an average velocity of 94.3 mph. That is about half a mph slower than last year, but that doesn’t really explain why hitters are hitting .516 off the pitch in 2025 so far compared to .271 last season. All of that hard contact has led to Sale’s heater being among the worst performing pitches in baseball period instead of being more of a middle of the pack offering.
Almost more troubling than that, Sale’s changeup has been actively bad this season as well. The pitch has been an inconsistent one during Sale’s career, but it does give righties a different look usually and allowed Sale to attack hitters with his slider the way he wants to because hitter have to respect the offspeed stuff. Last season, it was one of his best pitches and ranked in the 98th percentile in baseball.
This year? Opposing hitters are hitting .316 and slugging .579 against Sale’s changeup. If Sale’s attempts to change speeds are going this badly, there is clearly a pretty severe problem going on behind the curtain.
Perhaps figuring out how to lift his arm angle up some more will help right-handed hitters not be able to pick the ball up out of his hand as well or there are other fixes that could be implemented. Whatever the case may be, Sale and the Braves need to get this sorted out because he is going to need more than one pitch worth throwing if he is going to help Atlanta get where they want to go.
