After more than two months on the injured list, ace southpaw Chris Sale is set to make his return to the mound next weekend. David O’Brien of The Athletic relays that Sale is “penciled in” to be activated from the injured list and take the ball for Saturday’s game against the Phillies. Sale is on the 60-day injured list, so the Braves will need to clear a 40-man roster spot to accommodate his return once it becomes official.

The 59-71 Braves are ten games out of a Wild Card spot and have virtually no hope of making a run to the postseason at this point. Sale’s return isn’t likely to change that, but getting the 36-year-old veteran starts down the stretch will nonetheless be important for the likely future Hall of Famer personally. Sale is no stranger to injuries; his 2024 Cy Young award winning campaign saw him make 29 starts, his highest total since 2017. Through his first 15 starts of this year, Sale seemed to have not missed a beat: he pitched to a phenomenal 2.52 ERA with a 2.69 FIP and a phenomenal 30.8% strikeout rate.

Unfortunately, a ribcage fracture sidelined Sale back in June. He’s been out of the club’s rotation ever since, and in that time has become one among a pile of injured starters the Braves have been forced to replace. Reynaldo Lopez and AJ Smith-Shawver both hit the injured list with season-ending ailments before Sale got hurt, and since Sale’s injury that trio has been joined by Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured elbow) and Grant Holmes (elbow inflammation). Sale is the only one expected to return among that group this season, and when he arrives this weekend he’ll join Spencer Strider and top prospect Hurston Waldrep at the top of the Atlanta rotation. Behind that trio, Brian Snitker will like rotate between some combination of Joey Wentz, Bryce Elder, and recent waiver claim Cal Quantrill with Dane Dunning and Didier Fuentes also in the mix as potential depth options.

If Sale can return for five or six healthy and effective starts down the stretch, that should put him in a good position to have a normal offseason and once again be a fixture of the Atlanta rotation come 2026. With Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias both set to reach free agency and the club poised to miss the postseason for the first time since 2017, this offseason could be one that sees significant change come to the Braves organization. With so many homegrown players signed to long-term contracts, however, it could prove somewhat difficult to retool the roster in a substantial way. Listening to offers on a rental ace like Sale could be one way to accomplish that, but it seems unlikely that will even be considered given Atlanta’s firm position against making their ace available at the deadline.