Chris Sale Looked Absolutely Disgusting in His Spring Debut for the Atlanta Braves

I've seen what I needed to see (that one pitch on Twitter). Alex Anthopoulos has done it again and the rest of Major League Baseball is going to be fuming when Chris Sale is lighting it up again for the best team in the league.

In all seriousness, it is good to just see Sale go out there in his first start and set down all six hitters he faced — which included O'Neil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds and KeBryan Hayes. Obviously, the key to Sale's season is going to be his health. Sale has really only ever had one full season in which he pitched poorly. Now he's had several seasons where he rarely pitched, but when he pitches, he's almost exclusively very good.

If the Braves get even just 125 innings out of Sale, their rotation could very well be the best in baseball. Max Fried is going to put up the outstanding numbers he always does — maybe even better numbers, since he's in a contract year — and Spencer Strider seems to have added a curveball to his already lethal arsenal. All Atlanta needs is Sale to take the mound in most of his turns and be healthy heading into October.

Only four weeks until Opening Day. We're so back.