Chris Sale pitches 4 1/3 scoreless innings in possible final outing before return to Red Sox
Sale's next start could come with the Red Sox, who sorely need him.
Chris Sale put up another strong out with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday with his return to Boston looming.
The lefty pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his start against the Syracuse Mets. He gave up just three hits, striking out seven, and didn’t allow a walk as 38 of his 53 pitches were strikes.
While Sale pitched well in his second rehab outing, his velocity took a bit of a dip. His fastball reached 96 mph in his first rehab start on Tuesday. On Sunday, his fastball topped out at 93.5 mph, but it seemed to pick up speed further into his outing, per MiLB.com’s tracking stats.
Sale’s average fastball velocity this season has been 94.5 mph, per Statcast. Sale also used his sinker, slider, and changeup on Sunday, using all three pitches to help induce outs.
The workload for Sale in his second rehab outing though was a bit more than his first outing. He only threw two-plus innings on Tuesday, tossing 40 pitches against the same Syracuse team.
Up next for Sale will likely be a return to the Red Sox. The Red Sox’ plan for Sale was to make two rehab outings before reconvening to see if he felt ready to return. If he feels ready, the Red Sox could pitch him as early as next weekend. Red Sox manager Alex Cora recently told reporters that he’d like Sale, along with Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck, to be ready to return by the start of the team’s next road trip on Aug. 15.
“We’ll see how Chris feels after Sunday,” Cora said on Friday. “There’s a good chance he’ll be with us sooner rather than later.”
Boston could certainly use Sale’s help. It’s only used three starting pitchers on a consistent basis since Whitlock went down at the beginning of July, adding to the bullpen’s workload that seemed to hit a tipping point in this weekend’s series against Toronto. With the Red Sox playing a four-game set against the Royals this week, adding Sale would help space out the rest of the rotation, too.
However, Sale might not be fully ready to pitch a usual starter’s workload upon his return. Cora mentioned earlier in the month that the team could “piggyback” a long reliever like Nick Pivetta or Brennan Bernardino in games Sale starts to help ease him in and have him pitching in the majors sooner.
Sale seems to be OK with that idea.
“I’ve got a locker, not an office; those aren’t my calls,” Sale recently told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier on what role he might have when he returns to the Red Sox. “I want to get there as quick as I can, but I’m not here to force anybody’s hand or step on anyone’s toes.
“I’m going off of what they say. If they want me coming back throwing two innings as an opener, I’m in. If they want me to build up to six innings, I’m in. If they want me coming out of the bullpen in the seventh inning, deal. I want to come in here, do my work, do everything I can to get healthy as quickly as possible, and then it’s up to them how they want to use me.”
Sale was starting to pitch at the level he was at in his first few seasons with the Red Sox 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 over four starts in May.
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