Chris Sale's Journey Back To Stardom For Red Sox Could Begin On Saturday
Boston Red Sox's (former) ace Chris Sale is set to make his season debut on Saturday after a productive handful of starts in spring training.
To say Sale has had a rough go of it over the last few years would be a vast understatement.
The seven-time All-Star has only made 11 starts since the end of the 2019 season due to numerous injuries. The icing on the cake was getting hit in the hand by a line drive in just his second start back from the injured list at Yankee Stadium last July. Sale suffered a fractured left pinkie finger and his 2022 season was over.
Now, he enters this year optimistic that luck will be on his side.
Sale looked like his normal self in his four spring training starts this March. He hit 96 mph on his fastball, his slider made hitters freeze, he had limited issues with the new pitch clock, and he only allowed more than two earned runs in one outing. The southpaw feels a lot better than he did last season.
“I wasn’t getting a whole lot of swings and misses on fastballs (last year),” Sale said, as transcribed by The Boston Globe's Alex Speier on Friday. “And that’s something that I’ve been able to do (this spring) and I’ve just got to keep carrying that on.”
He's also answered every question about his health with as much honesty as possible and is now set to actually matter for a Red Sox rotation that desperately needs him to be available and producing for the vast majority of the season.
I really enjoyed seeing his answer to NESN's Red Sox sideline reporter Jahmai Webster after his last spring start.
When asked how nice it was to get through another outing healthy, Sale replied "I just gotta...drive home safe." Followed by a chuckle.
It's refreshing to see Sale's awareness of how unexpected some of his injuries have been, and to see him poke fun at himself during his path to (hopefully) a fully healthy season.
Just a few years ago when you heard the name "Chris Sale" you immediately thought of the All-Star appearances, the top-five Cy Young award finishes, and the fact that he hates vintage jerseys.
Now, when his name comes up -- it's hard to not immediately think of the starts he's missed over the last three seasons due to injuries.
Will the Red Sox get vintage Chris Sale this season? Only time will tell.
That vintage Sale had a 2.56 ERA in his first two full seasons in Boston. He made 63 starts in that span (including the postseason), and played a major role in the Red Sox securing their ninth World Series title in franchise history in 2018.
Fast-forward five years and he is now just one of three players remaining from that 2018 team.
Sale needs to prove he can be a leading force for this Red Sox rotation, and an impressive start on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles would go a long way to proving he could be back to normal.
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