The Braves continue to struggle against the Yankees, but how long will Atlanta’s aces continue to get extra rest?

NEW YORK — No other major league pitcher has had as many starts with six or more days of rest this season as Reynaldo López of the Atlanta Braves, who has seven. But teammate Chris Sale is right behind him after made his sixth start Friday night against the New York Yankees.

The Braves’ extra rest strategy, specifically designed to help these pitchers stay healthy and fresh, worked like a charm.

López leads MLB qualifiers with a 1.57 ERA in 13 starts, after spending the last two seasons as a reliever, and Sale is 10-2 with a 2.91 ERA, tied for leads the MLB in wins, having allowed just one run and one hit in five. innings of an 8-1 series-opening victory at Yankee Stadium.

“You give me the ball, I’ll throw it,” said Sale, 34, a 14-year veteran who has been a workhorse throughout his career when healthy. “That’s the schedule they’ve set for us so far, so you know, hey, whatever they need me to do, I’m here for it.”

#BravesChris Sale: “Just like we weren’t worried when things didn’t go well, we’re not going to sit here and have a party when things go well. I just have to stay consistent, stay at work and continue to do my best.

– David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) June 22, 2024

Sale had three walks and eight strikeouts Friday and the Yankees’ hitting trio of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 6 with five strikeouts against him.

“When you have a lefty throwing 98 miles an hour with a run like that, it’s a tough AB, especially when he’s on both sides of the plate,” Braves center fielder Jarred said. Kelenic.

For the Braves, Friday’s victory was highlighted by first-inning home runs by Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley and Matt Olson’s two-run homer in the fourth, all against starter Carlos Rodón. Braves newcomer Ramón Laureano had three doubles. And Sale could have kept the Yankees scoreless and hitless for five years if not for a second-inning ball that outfielder Adam Duvall misplayed into a triple.

It’s the longest Sale, 34, has remained healthy in a season since 2019. And with 86 2/3 innings pitched, he should surpass his 102 before the All-Star break. 2/3 innings last season, which was by far his highest level. total since 2019.

The Braves have won four straight and seven of eight after a five-game skid that was their longest since September 2017. Starting pitchers carried them when the offense was moribund, but pitching and hitting are in sync now and the Braves are starting to look like a pennant contender again.

But how much more rest can Atlanta give its starting pitchers than any other MLB contender? And how long should they do it, since they’ll likely have to rely on these key starters on their regular rest (four days) throughout a playoff run and playoff run?

“I felt like for me personally, the last few years, we got to a situation in August or September and some guys go down (get injured) and they need other guys to step up” during ‘regular rest,’ said the 40-year-old. Charlie Morton, the Braves’ fourth-best starter behind López, Sale and Max Fried. “Shoot, we’ve had it the last few years where they were skipping (the entries) on off days; It’s like we need you to leave.

He meant the Braves skipped a fifth starter on an off day and had one or more of their top starters rest regularly during significant stretches in recent seasons.

“And it’s like if it’s August or September, you want the ball because you’re in bigger games,” Morton said, “at the same time, that’s when you feel the most. When you need (rest) the most So you have to sort of regulate yourself in June, July But they (the team managers) are basically doing that for us right now. so it will pay off.”

Morton summed up his thoughts on the situation: “Honestly, I’m not sure. Because it’s like, especially down the stretch if it’s close, if there’s a split or a wild-card race, they’ll want their guys to throw (on regular rest), and you’ll start to to walk on.

And it’s not like a pitcher can rest now to use it later in the season.

“It’s like you have guys on a (one per) week schedule, and then in August or September you say, ‘We need you to take normal rest,'” Morton said, “when these are the hot days, and now we need you to be (ready to get regular rest). I mean, I don’t know how long they’re going to do what they’re doing. We haven’t discussed it. .All I’m saying is it’s fine to have extra days if that’s your schedule but you have to be conditioned to throw on normal rest, and the only way to do that is. to pitch on normal rest During the playoffs or otherwise, you might even get away with a short rest.

The Braves know they need to get to those big games first and do it with healthy key starting pitchers. This is especially important considering Sale’s litany of injuries over the past few seasons and López’s low inning totals while being used strictly as a reliever over the past two seasons and both roles in 2021.

Rather than putting a starter on injured reserve to rest or limiting someone’s innings, this is how the Braves try to keep starters healthy.

“We have no plans to shut anyone down,” said Alex Anthopoulos, general manager and president of baseball operations. “And barring health problems, the guys will make their debut. Whether it’s 25, 30, 32 starts, they’re going to make their starts.

In each of the last two seasons, at least two Braves starters have been ill or injured down the stretch and into the postseason, accounting for a large portion of NLDS losses to the Phillies in consecutive years.

This year, the Braves recently used a six-man rotation to provide extra rest that rainouts and calendar off days accounted for earlier. But aside from rookie Spencer Schwellenbach’s last two impressive starts, the starts of an assortment of young pitchers who have filled the fifth and sixth spots have been shaky.

That could change after the All-Star break with the expected return of Ian Anderson, who missed a season and a half recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is participating in games with the Florida Complex League rookie team, but could begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. There’s also the possibility of a trade for a backend innings eater.

While the fifth and sixth starters have mostly struggled, the results of the top three have been terrific, with Fried entering Sunday’s series finale with a 3.11 ERA and a 2.16 ERA over his last 12 departures.

“I don’t like the extra rest,” said Fried, who has a 2.57 ERA in two starts on four days of rest, a 1.53 ERA in eight starts on five days and an ERA of 8, 47 in four starts over six days. “I’m a guy that needs to get out there and throw as much as possible. We’ve obviously had a lot of different schedule changes, rain showers and days off and that sort of thing. So you have to do your best with this.

Friday was Sale’s sixth start with at least six days rest, and he is 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA in those games. He is 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA on five days’ rest, and he won his only start on regular rest when he pitched five one-run innings with nine strikeouts on May 1. in Seattle.

López has a 1.05 ERA in his seven starts on six or more days’ rest, compared to a 2.00 ERA in five starts on five days’ rest and a 3.86 ERA in his only start on rest regular, which was his briefest start with his fewest strikeouts – 4 2/3 innings with three Ks on May 25 at Pittsburgh.

For context, Seth Lugo of the Kansas City Royals, who is 10-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 16 starts, has just one start on six days’ rest, and half of his departures on four days of rest. The Phillies’ Ranger Suárez, who is 10-1 with a 1.75 ERA, has made six starts on four days’ rest and just three on six days’ rest.

“I want to express my gratitude for the way the organization handled these extra days of rest,” López said through an interpreter. “I really appreciated the approach we took to accounting for the extra rest days and how helpful it was. I imagine the day will come when I eventually reach the regular rotation where I start throwing every five days. But again, I think it was very beneficial, and I really appreciate that they put so much attention and focus into trying to get me that extra rest.

Morton has pitched significantly better with extra rest this season, albeit in a small sample size: he lasted three innings and allowed three earned runs in just one start on regular rest, has a 5.26 ERA in seven of five starts days off, and a miserly 1.72 ERA in five starts over six or more days.

“Obviously, time will tell,” Fried said, agreeing with Morton and López that the timeline appears likely to change. “I have to imagine over the next few months we’re going to have a lot of 14, 17 games in a row without a day off, so we’re going to have to rest regularly. So I think it was a little bit of that cushion at the beginning where you had days off to be able to get that extra rest.

He added: “But I think we’re in a good position now, because we have this little gantlet that allows us to get away with a little more regular rest starts. It’s just about having rhythm, but also staying alert so that when the end of the season comes, you have to be ready.

(Photo by Chris Sale: Luke Hales/Getty Images)