Chris Sale looks to stay hot as he takes on his former team.
The Atlanta Braves take on the Boston Red Sox in the second game of a two-game series this evening where former teammates Nick Pivetta and Chris Sale will face each other in a rubber match.
Pivetta has only pitched in 11.0 innings over two starts so far this season. Tonight will be Pivetta’s first appearance since April 3rd due to a right elbow flexor strain. Before he went down with an injury, he was off to a simmering start. He had a sterling ERA of 0.82, 0.918 WHIP, and thirteen strikeouts to only one walk.
Of course, two starts is a small sample size to draw conclusions on, especially if those two starts happened over a month ago and there has been an injury in-between. Last season Pivetta’s numbers were arguably the best of his career with a 4.04 ERA, 1.121 WHIP, and 3.66 SO/W ratio over 142.2 innings.
With Pivetta spending a little over three seasons in Philly before coming to Boston, it is no shock that a few Braves have faced him a decent number of times. Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuña, and Marcell Ozuna have thirty-one, twenty-eight, and twenty-four at-bats against him respectively with varying results.
Albies has really struggled with a .194 average and .446 OPS. Acuña has not been much better with an OPS of .644. Ozuna has had the opposite experience. He has a .250 average, .990 OPS, and four HRs off of Pivetta. Two other players to keep an eye on are Austin Riley and Orlando Arcia. Riley has a .958 OPS in sixteen at-bats. In a very limited sample of five at-bats, Arcia has enjoyed an .800 average and 2.233 OPS.
Chris Sale is facing his former team coming off a hot stretch. Over his last three starts, Sale has averaged 6.1 innings while sporting an ERA of 2.37 and a 2.67 FIP. Opponents have been held to a .183/.216/.296 slash line against him. Hitters have been a bit fortunate with Sale having a BABIP of .234 during this span, but there is no denying he has been dominant.
Over his last three starts 73.0 percent of his pitches have been strikes and he has garnered twenty-two strikeouts with only two walks.
Since Sale was on the Red Sox for the past seven seasons, it should come as no surprise that not many current Red Sox hitters have faced him before. Rob Refsnyder leads the pack with eight at-bats against him followed by Garrett Cooper with three, and Zack Short with one. Only Refsnyder has a hit off Sale, and he has a .250 average. None of these three are full-time starters for the Red Sox.
It will be fun to see Sale face off against his former teammates and hopefully continue his recent hot streak.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, May 8, 7:20 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia.
TV: Bally Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan