Chris Sale set to begin rehab stint on Tuesday as he’ll need at least two outings before returning
Sale will pitch three innings with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday as he prepares for a possible opener role with the Red Sox.
Chris Sale won’t be returning to the Red Sox’ active roster when he’s eligible to be removed from the 60-day injured list on Aug. 1. But his return could come just a little more than a week later.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Saturday that Sale will officially begin his rehab stint with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday before expecting to make a second rehab start with the WooSox on the following Sunday.
“We know that he’s going two [rehab assignments] at least,” Cora said. “And then from there, we’ll know more.”
The plan for Tuesday’s game is for Sale to pitch three innings against the Syracuse Mets. If Sale only needs two outings to be ready, his return to the Red Sox could come shortly after as Boston would be in the middle of its 10-game homestand following his scheduled Aug. 6 outing.
If Sale returns in the days following his second rehab outing, it could mean that he’s going to begin in an opener role before ramping up to a regular starting pitcher’s workload. Sale told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier following his live batting practice session on Thursday that he’d accept any role when he returns after Cora said the team could pitch him in an opener role so he can return sooner.
Sale was pitching well prior to suffering a stress fracture in the scapula of the shoulder blade on his pitching arm. He went 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA to go along with 30 strikeouts and a 0.808 WHIP in 26 innings pitched over four starts in May.
However, Sale’s workload began to increase in the starts leading up to his injury on June 1. He had a 110-pitching outing and a 111-pitch outing in two of his final four starts prior to the injury as he already had his most starts in a season since 2019.
Sale’s injury is just one of a few the Red Sox are dealing with in their starting rotation. Tanner Houck has been on the injured list since mid-June after suffering a facial fracture on a line drive during a game and Garrett Whitlock’s been out since the start of July due to a bone bruise in his pitching elbow.
Both Houck and Whitlock threw bullpen sessions over the week, Cora said. Whether they’ll remain in the starting rotation or pitch out of the bullpen will likely be determined by what happens at the trade deadline on Tuesday, according to Cora.
“It all depends on what we’re going to do. It’s still early,” Cora said. “Obviously, there’s a few days before the trading deadline. We’ll know more [on] how we’re going to attack the next few weeks with those guys, depending on what we do. But the fact they’re throwing bullpens and feeling healthy, that’s huge for us.”
Houck and Whitlock mostly pitched out of the bullpen in 2022 before moving back into the rotation to start the 2023 season.
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