Chris Sale Is Throwing A Baseball Again
BOSTON (CBS) -- Chris Sale is starting his season on the IL for the third straight year. But the Red Sox lefty is making progress in his return from a stress fracture in his ribs.
Sale was spotted throwing and playing catch at Fenway Park on Friday, ahead of Boston's home opener against the Minnesota Twins. That's a good sign for the 33-year-old.
Sale isn't expected to be back until sometime this summer, but at least Friday's development was a sign of progress, considering Sale wasn't even throwing a baseball as of a few weeks ago.
Sale missed all of 2020 and most of the 2021 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery. He made just nine starts in the regular season last year, going 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA over 42.2 innings. He didn't fare as well in the playoffs. Sale surrendered five runs over one inning in the ALDS against the Rays in his first postseason start, a game the Red Sox came back to win. He followed that up by going just 2.2 innings in his Game 1 start against the Astros in the ALCS, before giving Boston 5.1 innings of work in Game 5, allowing four runs (two earned) while striking out seven. Boston lost both of those games against the Astros, and lost the series in six games.
