Reynaldo López to start Friday against Giants

Elder had surgery in September “to clean up some bone fragments that caused swelling in his right knee,” which meant that he was unable to start for the Braves in the postseason. However, the Braves don’t believe he will miss any time in 2027, which gives him a chance to compete for a rotation spot in the spring.

Misiorowski is the overwhelming favorite to take home the hardware after establishing himself as the most dominant starter in baseball, forging a microscopic 1.80 ERA (2.12 xERA), 0.80 WHIP and 252/44 K/BB ratio across 174 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old flamethrower recorded 10 double-digit strikeout performances and allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but two of his 30 starts. Sale continued his remarkable late-career renaissance in Atlanta, delivering another stellar campaign with a 2.16 ERA (2.97 xERA), 0.98 WHIP and 200/31 K/BB ratio across 162 2/3 innings over 27 starts. He would have been the choice in just about any other season, but Misiorowski made the leap from hard-throwing phenom to an outright force of nature.

Sale wriggled out of a first-inning jam by punching out Shohei Ohtani on a nasty slider and piled up six punchouts over three shutout frames to open the contest. He ran into trouble in the fourth when postseason hero Enrique Hernández slugged a two-run shot to left field before former Braves icon Freddie Freeman took him deep to right-center field, an absolutely stunning turn of events for the veteran ace after allowing just 10 homers across 162 2/3 regular-season innings. It was the first time he served up multiple home runs in a postseason outing since his playoff debut back in 2017. He returned to toss a perfect fifth inning before departing after 95 pitches (62 strikes), with Atlanta manager Walt Weiss turning to his bullpen to open the sixth. It’s a virtual lock that Sale will get the ball again at some point, most likely in relief, as the best-of-five series continues.

Even without the relief appearance on Thursday, Sale would have been starting on four days’ rest had he pitched in Game 2, and he hadn’t done that since way back on Apr. 6, when he allowed six runs in four innings against the Angels. Sale starting in Game 3 and potentially coming out of the pen in Game 5 might always have been the best plan for Atlanta.

Lane Thomas, who finished up on the IL with an intercostal strain, is a possibility to be activated. The pitchers, though, will have to wait for a potential NLCS. Elder is coming off knee surgery and hoped to be ready for the series. Pérez missed the end of the season with a back strain.

Braves manager Walt Weiss hasn’t ruled out using Sale on Sunday, but that wouldn’t have been ideal even if Sale didn’t pitch in relief; Sunday would put him on four days’ rest from his start Tuesday, and he hasn’t pitched on four days’ rest since the first week of April. “We’re gonna err on the side of giving him (time to rest) if it’s even close,” Weiss said. Most likely, Sale will start Game 3 on Tuesday.

Sale allowed just one run while he was in the game, but a pair scored in the seventh after he exited on a two-run triple by J.T. Realmuto. The left-hander was so much better than this line suggests while generating 22 swings-and-misses with 16 of those coming on his slider. Sale remains one of the best starters in baseball — although with more volatility because of durability at age 37 — and if Atlanta can’t come from behind and win, he’ll be the ace of the staff again to start 2027.

Thomas, trying to make his way back from an intercostal strain, resumed hitting last week and was seen running in the outfield today. Still, he won’t be activated prior to the NLDS.

Elder had knee surgery in early September and began throwing off the mound again on the 19th. He had previously stated that he planned to return for the postseason, but it remains to be seen if the Braves feel they need him for the Wild Card series or would wait until the Divisional round before thinking of activating him.

Sale washed away a lead-off home run by Juan Brito to retire the next eight batters he faced with five strikeouts… until Brito came up again and smacked a single. Besides that peculiar thorn in his side, Sale was his usual dominant self, matching a season-high with 23 swings-and-misses and struck out double-digit batters for the fifth time this season. With this being the finale of his regular season, Sale closed his age-37 campaign with a 2.16 ERA, 14 wins, and 200 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings. The Braves are likely locked in to the third seed in the National League, so Sale is set to pitch next in game one of the Wild Card series next Tuesday.