Here's the Report on the Rehab Start For Boston Red Sox Ace Chris Sale
As the Boston Red Sox push for the playoffs for the second time in three years, left-handed ace Chris Sale is on the mend.
Sale, who is on the 60-day injured list, made his first rehab appearance at Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday.
The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:
Sale (shoulder) allowed one hit, walked two and struck out three over two innings for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, Lauren Campbell and Sean McAdam of MassLive.com report.
ANALYSIS
Sale threw 40 pitches, only 26 for strikes, in his first game action since June 1. "He was all over the place, with (a few) walks," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "But he feels good about his mechanics, feels good about his arm. Now it's a matter of harnessing the stuff in the strike zone." The left-hander's fastball reached 96 mph, and he was encouraged by some aspects of his performance. "Obviously, had a couple walks. But, for the most part I was mainly around the zone," Sale said. He'll work on whatever issues led to the high number of balls and two walks ahead of his next rehab start for the WooSox on Sunday.
Only throwing 14 balls out of 40 pitches doesn't seem that poor, actually. That's 65 percent strikes, which is generally an acceptable rate.
Either way, the Red Sox will look forward to Sale's return. Given injuries to him, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock, the team has been operating with a three-man rotation for weeks. That's not sustainable and Sale being back will help alleviate the problem.
It's also interesting to note that the report says Sale will pitch again on Sunday. Previous reports had indicated he may only need one appearance.
The Red Sox are 57-50 and 1.5 games back of the final wild card spot in the American League.
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