Zack Wheeler vs. Chris Sale: Tuesday night in Atlanta might seem meaningless but there’s a whole lot happening on the mound

I’m already beyond sick of the days off on the MLB schedule for the Philadelphia Phillies. Right when we start to pick up some momentum, we’re hit with a travel day to Atlanta but at the very least, tomorrow night is going to be absolutely electric with Zack Wheeler on the bump against Chris Sale.

Zack Wheeler vs. Chris Sale, the top two finishers in last year’s NL Cy Young race, toeing the rubber in Atlanta under the lights. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m. ET. The stakes are as big as they can be for an early-April baseball game, with a little pride, redemption, and an early-season tone-setter on line for both the Phillies and the Braves.

The Phillies are rolling, coming off a statement series win over the defending champ Dodgers. The Braves on the other hand, have started the year like a car that forgot to take off the parking brake — 1-8 and already hearing whispers of a lost season.

And yet, it’s the arms that will headline this early-season series between the NL East rivals.

Cy Young Rematch — With a Little Extra Heat

Last season, Chris Sale turned back the clock and bullied his way to the National League pitching triple crown. First in wins (18), ERA (2.38), and strikeouts (225). Sprinkle in a league-best FIP, ERA+, and strikeout rate, and it was a vintage, lefty menace type of year. He was nasty.

Wheeler wasn’t far behind. A 0.955 WHIP, only 6.3 hits per nine and the most innings pitched in the National League should have been enough to win the NL Cy Young. Wheeler did everything short of steal the trophy, and when the votes came in, he landed in the same familiar spot: runner-up…again.

Wheeler of course, wasn’t going to make excuses. Instead, he was all-class talking about Chris Sale winning the 2024 NL Cy Young Award.

“I think Chris deserved it,” Wheeler said in the spring. “He had a really good season. So it was kind of hard to beat.”

Sure, but you can bet the Georgia native wouldn’t mind giving Sale a reminder of who’s boss Tuesday night — in his home state, no less.

Zack Wheeler owns the Braves already

Zack Wheeler’s stats against the Atlanta Braves since signing with the Phillies in 2020:

18 G | 116.2 IP | 88 H | 17 BB | 29 ER | 133 K | 2.24 ERA | 0.90 WHIPpic.twitter.com/rcH033AIMN

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 7, 2025

Trends and Trouble

Wheeler’s looked every bit the ace again in 2025:

• 1.38 ERA
• 18 K in just two starts
• Phillies 7-2 out of the gate

Sale? A bit shakier so far. He’s been tagged early, carrying a 5.40 ERA in 10 innings of work. That’s not a death sentence in April, but it’s a red flag for a Braves team already spiraling. Atlanta’s roster still oozes talent — Strider and Acuña Jr. will be back soon, and there’s no way the core hitters stay cold forever — but Sale needs to be the adult in the room on Tuesday night and attempt to right the sinking ship.

Otherwise, the Atlanta Braves, already historically dead in the water in 2025, risk tumbling into full-on irrelevancy before Tax Day.

Zack Wheeler and the Phillies can step on the Braves’ throats this week

For the Phillies, this is a “keep your foot on the neck” series. They just outslugged the Dodgers, and now they’ve got their ace lined up to bury a division rival in early April. They don’t need this series. But they know how fun it’d be to send Atlanta to 1-10.

Phillies keep humbling the Dodgers and the rest of Major League Baseball should take note

The Braves? They absolutely need this. You can’t keep pointing to the calendar and saying it’s early if you’re getting curb-stomped every other night.

So yeah — Phillies vs. Braves in April usually means something but when it’s Wheeler vs. Sale with the direction of two teams in the National League East on the line, that makes it must-watch.

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