Tuesday, August 7, 2018

The Troublesome "Thing That Shall Not Be Named" Still Facing The Red Sox

(Getty Images)
Remember Chris Sale? You know the guy who's 11-4 with a 2.04 ERA—and, uhhhhh, you know, has a sore....you know...uhh.....shoulder. The four-game sweep of The Evil Ones this past weekend has kind of pushed Sale's situation to the back of our minds. It shouldn't. Not only did the Cy Young-bound lefty miss his Yankee start, he's been ruled out for any of the upcoming three games in Toronto (where he was originally penciled-in for Wednesday). Now, the spin is that he won't start until one of the games in Baltimore (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). In the past, the injury concern with Sale has always been around his elbow—as his "whip-saw" delivery is a ticking 'Tommy John' time-bomb. So, the fact that it's a shoulder issue might make us feel better—but not really. While Sale had an incredible 2017 season (17-8, 300 strikeouts), he did have a sub-par (for him) September. The lefty went 2-2, with 3.72 ERA, with opponents hitting .272 against him. And, as we know, he did not fare too well in the post-season. While the Red Sox have done a good job of keeping his work-load down this year, he still got hurt. One can only hope that the injury does not affect the balance of this season.