00:00The Atlanta Braves lost Spencer Schwellenbach to another injury,
00:03but the good news for them is that they've got the hottest pitcher going right now.
00:07That may be even hotter than the Miz.
00:08That's Chris Sale, who without a doubt at this point,
00:11if you're looking at some of those prediction markets,
00:13he may not win that Cy Young, and he may not finish second,
00:17but he is not going any lower than third at this point, Tom.
00:20He's having another career season.
00:22They're starting to talk Hall of Fame for this guy.
00:24In fact, some people thought this was like his signature start over his career.
00:28Here, Sale said that his son being in the stands cheering for him like he was
00:33put himself over the top.
00:35If you don't think emotional stuff doesn't matter, man, he told you that it does.
00:39You know, this is the thing with the Braves, Tom,
00:41that I think that we have to just discuss here.
00:43Now, his last seven starts, he's got 60 strikeouts.
00:46He's in the mix.
00:47I don't think he's going to win.
00:48Everyone loves the Miz, and Sale is not a guy who puts himself out there
00:52as much as some of these other guys do.
00:53He just wants to go and pitch.
00:54But I would say this, I understand, Tom, the notion,
00:58and we all should understand the notion that the Braves are not going to have
01:02better starting pitching than the Dodgers in the postseason
01:04and probably not going to have better starting pitching than the Brewers
01:08in the postseason.
01:08I think that that is fair.
01:10But if Sale is this hot and Atlanta plays in a seven-game series,
01:14you're seeing this guy three times in a seven-game series.
01:18So, you know, yeah, their two and their three and their four may not be as good
01:22as the other teams, but if their one is better than everybody else, Tom,
01:25that matters too.
01:27It really does.
01:28And, you know, I'm looking at this from, you know, not a seven-game series
01:32because I've been on the record of saying I think the Braves have the best lineup
01:35and I think the Braves can go toe-to-toe with the Phillies,
01:38they can go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers when it comes to an offense perspective.
01:42But obviously the pitching, as you said, is always going to be a step behind the Dodgers,
01:45the Brewers, and the Phillies really across the board.
01:48What I always want to know is what happens in a short series, right?
01:52It's not about a seven-game series because if the Braves get to a seven-game series,
01:55you have Sale, we're going to see him multiple times.
01:57But a short series is where I do think the Braves will be really up against it
02:00because if you go out there and you win with Sale or you don't win with Sale,
02:03that's the real issue.
02:04Can you salvage another star where you're going to have Martin Perez or Tyler Molle starting?
02:09And listen, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder, they've been fine.
02:12They've been doing their thing.
02:12I give you five, six innings, I only give them two or three earned runs.
02:15But can they out-duel the high-end pitchers that the Phillies have,
02:18that the Brewers have, and whatever the postseason bracket shakes out to be?
02:22So that's where I'm really worried.
02:23But if Sale's at his peak, I think we would take him over any other NL starter
02:29outside of Yamamoto with postseason success.
02:34Yeah, I think it's possible there.
02:36I mean, look, the Miz could end up dominating the postseason
02:38and winning the World Series.
02:40Lizardo's having a career year, too.
02:41There are other guys that are out there.
02:43It's just Sale right now with his history and the way that he has pitched, no doubt.
02:47And as I mentioned, Spencer Schwellenbach not going to pitch, it looks like,
02:51for the Braves this season.
02:53They're hoping that he returns.
02:54Man, this poor guy has had so many injuries over the last couple of years.
02:58Hard to see him back for the Braves in the postseason.
03:01Meanwhile, Paul Skeens looked a little bit better last time out.
03:04He threw 98.6 miles an hour.
03:06Maybe some of the things that they're tinkering with is working.
03:10If I'm not mistaken, Sam, is Skeens pitching Sunday?
03:13I don't think so.
03:14Is he?
03:14I just want to make sure.
03:15Okay, so he is pitching against the Giants next week.
03:18So that's going to be another good start for him, the Giants think.
03:21And then, you know, we'll start talking about Skeens for next year.
03:23Not surprising, Tom.
03:24It just takes time to get yourself figured out.
03:26Yeah, that's all that's happening here.
