Chris Sale’s nightmare of a year has taken another strange turn.
After missing the first half with a stress fracture in his rib cage suffered during an offseason workout, and after getting hit on the hand by a line drive and suffering a broken pinky as as a result, Sale is now officially out for the year following the breakup. his right wrist in a bicycle accident.
In all, Sale made just two starts and pitched 5.2 innings in 2022
The Red Sox announced the latest injury Tuesday morning, saying the accident occurred Saturday and that Sale underwent successful surgery Monday. The club expects Sale to be ready for the start of spring training next February, at which point he will have thrown just 57.1 innings in 11 starts, including the playoffs, over the first three years of his five-year contract and 145 million dollars.
Chaim Bloom offered more clarity after the initial announcement, saying Sale had just returned home from pitching at Boston College and was riding his bike to pick up lunch. They said Sale hit something while going down a hill and came off the bike, and while they’re thankful Sale’s injuries weren’t worse, it feels awful that after everything Sale has been through has suffered another unfortunate breakdown.
“You can’t make it up,” Bloom said. “We need to send some people to find whoever has Chris Sale’s voodoo doll and get it back.”
Bloom said if not for the injury, Sale could have returned later this season, and just like with the broken rib and the pinky, this setback shouldn’t have any lasting effects. Theoretically, once he’s healed, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to return to his old dominant self.
“You look ahead and it should be fine,” Bloom said. “I know we keep saying this and things keep happening, this is just an incredibly strange series of events, but it should be packed next spring.”
But after everything that’s happened, can the Red Sox really count on Sale going forward?
When Sale signed his huge contract extension ahead of the 2019 season, the hope was that he could serve as the club’s ace for years to come. In theory, Sale is absolutely worth $30 million a year, but even before the string of injuries, Sale had never been particularly durable, and going forward, those concerns will be amplified by orders of magnitude.
Seeing your ace take the mound every five days should inspire comfort and confidence, not anxiety that at some point the other shoe will drop.
When Sale returns in 2023, it will have been nearly four years since he pitched at full strength. His elbow issues should be long behind him, but he’s also going to be 34, and who knows what kind of effect that and all that downtime could have on his body.
For the Red Sox, it is what it is at this point. They’ve already invested close to $90 million in Sale over the last three years, and they’re not getting that money back. At this point they have no choice but to hold their breath and hope that when Sale finally returns, he will make these past two years worth the wait.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.
