Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale said he felt "deflated' after hitting the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation.
After a rough start to the season, Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale began returning to his old form at the beginning of May. From there, each start got better and better. But on Thursday night, Sale had to exit his start against the Cincinnati Reds due to left shoulder inflammation. On Friday, the team officially put him on the 15-day injured list after undergoing an MRI.
Sale spoke with the media after being placed on the injured list and said that he felt he was back to being himself, and now that he's sidelined, it's "obviously deflating." The video below comes courtesy of NESN.
Red Sox: Chris Sale calls latest injury 'deflating'
Sale said that the injury is strictly regarding his shoulder when asked if his elbow was okay. The most important thing to note is that the team is still awaiting the full MRI results. He may not know the full diagnosis until "a week or so," per MassLive's Chris Cotillo.
In the aforementioned start on Thursday, Sale received a visit from manager Alex Cora and the team's medical staff in the top of the fourth inning after throwing 57 pitches. While Sale did remain in the game, he received yet another visit two days later and was subsequently pulled. After the game, Cora said he noticed Sale's velocity dropped from "95 to 90" in the second inning.
In 3.2 innings of work, Sale had thrown 40 strikes, struck out six batters, issued one walk, and allowed one earned run on five hits.
Sale had dealt with numerous injuries in recent years. Left elbow inflammation in 2019. Tommy John surgery in 2020. A stress fracture in his rib cage, a fractured pinky finger, and a broken left wrist in 2022.
In May, Sale recorded a 2.42 ERA, a 0.81 WHIP, 30 strikeouts, and four walks in 26.0 innings (four starts). On the year, Sale owns a 4.58 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and a 5-2 win-loss record, while recording 71 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59.0 innings (11 starts).
Sale and the Red Sox now await for full testing results to see how severe the injury is. After an impressive run of starts, the pause button has unfortunately been pressed for Sale.