It should not come as a surprise to anyone who follows the Atlanta Braves that reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale will take the hill on opening day this season. On Monday, the team announced Sale will be ready to go on March 27 at Petco Park in San Diego when the Braves begin the new baseball season with the Padres.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider struck out six and didn’t allow a base runner over 2 2/3 innings in his first Grapefruit League appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. The only two Boston Red Sox batters to avoid striking out against Strider were David Hamilton and Nick Sogard.

In his first start back, he was quite impressive. "Spencer Strider is back," Major League Baseball tweeted. "Five straight strikeouts in his first spring training start of the yea