This wasn’t exactly a good-news-bad-news situation for Red Sox ace pitcher Chris Sale. It was more of a bad-news, but not really-bad-news day.
Sale will miss the rest of the 2019 season with left elbow inflammation, putting a major dent in the Red Sox’s chances to chase down an American League Wild Card berth and have a chance at repeating their World Series title. But after a second opinion from renowned Dr. James Andrews, the team confirmed that Sale will not need Tommy John surgery.
The Tommy John route likely would have cost Sale the 2020 season too. As it is, he should be ready to go in Spring Training next year.
Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale does not need Tommy John surgery, sources tell ESPN. A follow-up today with Dr. James Andrews confirmed the diagnosis of elbow inflammation. His return date is unclear, but for Boston, this is excellent news.
Story at ESPN: https://t.co/EZZrKY2Hn0
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 19, 2019
A struggle of a season
Sale will finish the season 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA. He struggled out of the gate, righted his ship for a couple of months and then started to scuffle again. In his final start against the Indians last Tuesday, Sale did record his 2,000th career strikeout, becoming the fastest to reach that mark.
But now he’ll receive an injection of plasma-rich platelets in his elbow, and Andrews will re-examine him in six weeks. Even if he improves, the Red Sox say it’s unlikely Sale would be available to pitch in the postseason.
Update on Chris Sale: #RedSox pic.twitter.com/XSeSaPihEg
— Guerin Austin (@guerinaustin) August 19, 2019
Moving forward
PRP injections can really help some pitchers, but for others — Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is one example — it doesn’t help and the elbow eventually needs surgery anyway.
Sale’s MRI was reportedly clean aside from the inflammation, however, so the injection clearly is worth the try.
After that? Boston has to hope its ace is ready to go in 2020 and beyond. That’s because they’re on the hook to pay Sale $145 million over the next five years.
Chris Sale was effectively shut down last year in late July. Now he shut down again for the rest of this year. Sox just committed $145 million for next five years, starting next year. And this is going to be spun as good news?
— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) August 19, 2019
(h/t ESPN.com)
