Boston left-handed pitcher Chris Sale has been sidelined until at least August with a strain injury to his left shoulder blade.
It was the latest in a series of setbacks for the sale as he agreed to a lengthy contract extension with the Red Sox before 2019 with $160 million guaranteed.
Sale debuted on June 1 with a shoulder injury in the fourth inning against Cincinnati. The 34-year-old pitcher was placed on the 15-day disabled list the next day, and on Friday Boston transferred him to the 60-day disabled list.
He will go three to four weeks without launching, and the earliest he could return is August 1.
“Now we have to be patient,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the start of the series against the New York Yankees. He won’t have surgery and that’s a big deal for us.”
Kutter Crawford could get his turn in the rotation against Colorado on Tuesday.
As part of several moves, pitcher Matt Dermody became transferable a day after his first major league start and said he regretted posting a homophobic tweet two years ago.
In addition, the Red Sox reactivated outfielder Adam Duvall from the 60-day disabled list after recovering from a broken left wrist, and optioned left-hander Joe Jacques from Triple-A Worcester.
Sale is 16–15 with a 4.21 ERA in 47 starts since March 2019, when he agreed to a $145 million extension over the next five years through 2024. He was an All-Star for seven consecutive seasons during his contract, going 103–62 with a 2.89 ERA over his first nine seasons in the majors.
But he was limited to one start between July and September in 2018 by shoulder inflammation and returned to help the Red Sox win the World Series.
He did not pitch until August 13, 2019, due to inflammation in his left elbow, missing the entire pandemic-shortened season in 2020 following Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him until August 14, 2021. Additionally, he did not pitch until July. Last year, he had a stress fracture in his right side rib.
Returning he made two starts, then broke his left pinky when hit by a line drive from the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks, and broke his right wrist in a bicycle accident before returning.
“She’s Addicted”. Cora said. “He’s had to go through a lot since 2018.”
