Chris Sale Injury: Lined up to return Saturday

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Sale (ribcage) will likely be activated from the 60-day injured list to start Saturday's game in Philadelphia, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

With Sale checking out well physically following his third and final rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Gwinnett, he'll be on track to rejoin the Atlanta rotation one week later for what will be his first start with the big club since June 18. Before suffering a left ribcage fracture in his start against the Mets that day, Sale had delivered an impressive encore to his Cy Young-winning season in 2024, turning in a 2.52 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 114:26 K:BB in 89.1 innings with Atlanta. The veteran lefty tossed 77 pitches in his final outing with Gwinnett and could have his workload monitored carefully Saturday, but fantasy managers will likely still want to activate Sale this week as he rejoins the big club.