BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 20: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox reacts during the second inning of game five of the 2021 American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park on October 20, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Chris Sale endured some up-and-down years with the Boston Red Sox but he is back to pitching at an All-Star level in 2024 with the Atlanta Braves. Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees star outfielder who has faced Sale plenty of times over the years, shared his thoughts on the Braves starting pitcher’s bounce-back 2024 campaign.
“Chris Sale throws the ball, it feels like he’s throwing it from where the second baseman is standing,” Judge said recently, via Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He can get the fastball up to 95, 97, 98 mph. He has great feel for all his pitches. He’s a guy who doesn’t back down. He comes right at you.”
Judge is 5-27 with one home run, one RBI and three walks against Sale for his career, per StatMuse. Sale has struck Judge out 17 times. Judge admitted that he is “happy” to see Sale in a different division.
“It’s been fun, even in his days in Boston, facing him year after year,” Judge continued. “You look forward to those days. You don’t like facing him because he’s one of the best in the game, but you like competing against the best. Definitely happy to have him out of the AL East instead of having to see him every other week. But it’s still fun to see him with the Braves, man. He’s a special, special pitcher.”
Chris Sale enjoying impressive bounce-back season after Braves-Red Sox trade
There is no question that Sale has benefitted from being traded from the Red Sox to the Braves. He has enjoyed a true career resurgence in Atlanta during the 2024 season.
