The best pitcher in the MLB meets one of the best teams in the MLB: Chris Sale meets the Dodgers

The Dodgers missed Chris Sale when they swept the Braves in May, but they won't be so lucky this time. After a less-than-stellar showing against Spencer Schwellenbach, they now have to face the best pitcher in MLB – a title Sale earned with a stellar performance that truly put him in a class of his own.

Yes, Sale's 6.2 fWAR is not only the best of any pitcher in MLB, but it's also nearly 1 fWAR better than his nearest competitor, Tarik Skubal (5.4), even though Skubal has two more starts than Sale so far. Among the 155 starters with the most innings, Sale is first in FIP-, second in xFIP-, second in SIERA, fourth in xERA, and third in ERA-. He's also been pretty consistent, having not had a single calendar month where his FIP or xFIP went above 3.50. Even on a game-by-game level, we're talking about just three starts all year with a FIP- over 100 (and just two over 110) and just two with an xFIP- over 100 (and just one over 110). He is undoubtedly the best pitcher in baseball this year, he is one of the best overall performers in baseball this year, and the Braves' hopes of making the playoffs rest largely on them converting what he still does this season into wins.

But when Sale faces the Dodgers tonight, things will not The easy, because the Braves have to deal with Jack Flaherty. The 28-year-old right-hander came from Detroit at the trade deadline, and although he was worse in Los Angeles (64/87/83, compared to an absurd, Sale-esque 73/76/63 before the trade; Sale is at 57/51/64 for the season), he was still a stunner. The Dodgers have gone 5-2 in his seven starts since his trade, and aside from a two-start stretch in which he “only” had a 10/3 K/BB ratio and allowed two home runs, he's not really had a bad outing.

So once again, it looks like Chris Sale will have little margin for error and the Braves will have a difficult task ahead of them. With the Phillies facing the Mets with Kolby Allard (after fielding their best four against the Braves a few weeks ago), the Braves will need to find a way to emerge victorious to remain relevant in the race for a playoff spot.

Game info

Date/time of the game: Saturday, September 14, 7:20 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: Bally Sports Southeast, MLB Network (out-of-market only)

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 am / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 am