BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 20: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox warms up prior to Game Five of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park on October 20, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Will the dominance of Chris Sale ever conquer the mound for the Boston Red Sox again?
If he does, the Sox will be in pretty good shape to make another playoff run. But the keyword is “If” as the lanky flamethrower finds himself both healing and rehabbing from another injury that will limit his time on the mound in 2022.
With the latest injury being a stress fracture in his right rib that could take some time to heal, Sale gave an upbeat update on how he is progressing and most importantly, how he is feeling.
“Night and day,” Sale said Saturday, via MLB.com. “I can run. I can jump. I can twist. I can start doing some things. There is nothing going on with the muscle. It’s just the bone, which is a good thing. But you have to make sure the muscles don’t do something before the bone is ready to handle.”
Sale went on to explain how he is doing things not to irritate the bone or muscle after a recent MRI showed that the edema is going away, and the bone is healing. But, if you are a Red Sox fan, the big question is when will Sale find his way back on the mound at full strength?
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Obviously, that depends on when he can start throwing again. As far as playing catch before the stress fracture is fully healed, Sale said he is not sure about that, but offered more insight.
“I’m not 100 percent [sure],” Sale said. “The way I feel right now, I feel like I could go throw today and be alright. But there is a difference between going out and throwing and being alright, and going out and throwing and being great. I think that’s along the lines of what they want me to be before we start doing this.”
After missing the shortened 2020 MLB season, Chris Sale bounced back from Tommy John surgery to go 5-1 in nine starts with the Boston Red Sox in 2021. In posting a 3.16 ERA, the hard throwing hurler did look like himself at times and certainly gave a boost to a starting rotation led by Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nick Pivetta.
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With Rodriguez departed and Sale sidelined, the Red Sox will still depend on Eovaldi and Pivetta to hold it down at the top of the rotation but are hoping for a breakout season from young right-handed pitcher Tanner Houck. They are also hoping any combination of veteran pitchers Michael Wacha, Rich Hill or James Paxton hold down the back end of that rotation.
With the firepower on offense the Red Sox have, they should be able to get by until they can get Sale back in the mix.
The key is obviously Houck who has the stuff to be dominate. He just must find consistency on the mound. Given his youth, the 2022 MLB season could be one to remember and would give the Red Sox quite the pitching rotation once Sale returns.
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