Rob Manfred would not have let Chris Sale start in the All-Star game

The Braves sent four players to the All-Star Game – Marcell Ozuna, Max Fried, Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale, the latter of whom would likely win the first Cy Young Award of his career if the season ended today.

What Sale has done for Atlanta this year has been a joy to watch. The veteran left-hander is baseball’s leader in wins and FIP and boasts a 2.70 ERA, the best in the NL. Sale has turned back the clock and earned All-Star honors for the first time since 2018, but is not expected to pitch in tomorrow’s game.

The Braves starter faced the Padres on Sunday in the club’s final game before the All-Star break, throwing 5.0 innings with one run in a 6-3 victory that effectively ended any chance he had of a spot in the National League All-Star Game, even though he was the most deserving player according to the statistics.

But even if he had been given the normal amount of rest, he might not have gotten the nod. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo apparently would have chosen the Braves star, but Bob Nightingale of USA Today speculated that Rob Manfred would have stepped in and forced him to start Paul Skenes.

“If Atlanta’s Chris Sale had not been in the starting lineup on Sunday and thus had not been allowed to pitch in the All-Star Game,” Nightengale said, “the D-backs’ coaches say he might have been their choice for the NL starting lineup.”

“Still, it’s likely that MLB would have overruled manager Torey Lovullo and made Skenes the starter anyway. Skenes would have been the starter even before his seven hitless innings in his last start on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.”

Skenes may already be the best pitcher in baseball. He has a 6-0 record, a 1.90 ERA and 89 strikeouts in just 66.1 innings. The LSU product seems unstoppable and is the first rookie to start an All-Star game since Hideo Nomo in 1995.

The Pirates’ rookie phenom is the hottest thing in baseball right now, so it’s completely understandable if Major League Baseball wanted him on the mound purely for marketing reasons. Braves fans, however, aren’t taking this lightly, even if Chris Sale is unavailable anyway.

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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire