Although the Atlanta Braves' streak of consecutive NL East titles has ended at six, they are still in the hunt for the postseason. The wonky rescheduling of the rest of its series with the New York Mets has put them in a peculiar spot as they try to earn a Wild Card bid. They had to rework their starting pitching rotation to make Chris Sale potentially available against the Mets, who narrowly lead them in the standings.

Sale was going to start Wednesday's game against the Mets but it was one of two that was postponed to a doubleheader on Monday. The NL Cy Young favorite could have been instantly slated to start on Saturday or Sunday but Atlanta has decided to save him for an elimination situation and start Max Fried to begin its weekend series against the Kansas City Royals.

David O'Brien of The Athletic summarized the plan and its rationale like this: “Basically, Braves are saving Sale for an elimination game. He’s ready and was part of the planning process. They considered starting him Friday, but they (with Sale in the discussion) decided on this plan. Fried is more routine-oriented, doesn't like so many extra days rest, etc.”

Braves tweak pitching plans to save Chris Sale for doubleheader vs. Mets

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Although the Braves are surely keeping an eye on the doubleheader with its division rivals ahead, the Royals are also playing for positioning in the postseason, so Atlanta shouldn’t assume it will win any games. Sale, who will get some extra rest after his velocity was down in his last start, must stay ready to go and pitch his best.

Sale has been outstanding in his first season with the Braves and is on track to win the first Cy Young award of his career. He leads MLB in ERA (2.38), FIP (2.09), pitching wins (18) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.4). That’s the type of player you want to have ready if your season is on life support.

The Braves will start Fried on Friday but have not yet listed probable starters for the remainder of the regular season. O'Brien added that Fried was also involved with the formation of this plan and that he prefers to pitch on normal rest rather than extra.