After a spate of losses and injuries, the Red Sox received some much-needed good news on Thursday in the form of a clear MRI for Chris Sale.
The results were a green light for the 34-year-old left-hander, who proceeded to throw a baseball for the first time since going on the injured list with shoulder inflammation at the beginning of June.
Being ahead of schedule is a welcome change for Sale, who’s spent the last several years trapped in an endless cycle of injuries, recoveries, and setbacks. He said he expected to be out six weeks, and is already throwing after four.
“I’m in a pretty good mood today,” he told reporters.
Sale last pitched against the Cincinnati Reds on June 1, when his manager, Alex Cora, pulled him after 3 2/3 innings of 1-run ball. The early exit snapped a streak of seven consecutive starts of five or more innings, a span over which he’d begun putting together a promising comeback season.
Over his last eight starts of the season (April 18-June 1), Sale owns a 2.87 ERA and 2.72 FIP, with 52 strikeouts, eight walks, and just three home runs across 47 innings. Batters hit .216 with a .633 against him. Boston was 6-2 in those games, with Sale picking up four wins.
The Red Sox initially placed Sale on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 2), but transferred him to the 60-day the following week, making his earliest possible activation August 1.
“We’ve just gotta be patient,” Cora said. “I know everybody’s excited, but we have to be patient.”
The manager also clarified that it’s “way too early” to discuss a set timetable.
Unfortunately, for the Red Sox, who enter Thursday with an 11-14 record since June 2 and in last place in their division, his return may be too late.
After pitching for Triple-A Worcester to begin his rehab assignment, Joely Rodríguez will continue with Double-A Portland.
The Worcester Red Sox (WooSox) placed Enmanuel Valdez on the 7-day injured list with left thumb inflammation.
Richard Bleier (shoulder inflammation) threw another bullpen at Fenway on Thursday afternoon, pitching for four at-bats.
“He threw the ball well,” Cora said.
“He was struggling early on, it’ll be good to get him back,” his manager said, but also praised the other left-handers who’ve stepped up in Bleier’s absence.
“We got some guys that throw the ball well. Berny (Brennan Bernardino) has been amazing, Joe (Jacques) has been good. Joely is about to come back.
“We need to get (Bleier) healthy. I think he ground through there for a while,” Cora assessed. “That’s great, we appreciate that, but we want these guys to be as close at 100 percent as they can. Hopefully, after a few weeks or a month, whatever, he’s back to the way he was last year and the last few years, start dominating lefties, and obviously keep getting righties out.”
The Red Sox acquired the 36-year-old lefty from the Miami Marlins in exchange for longtime Boston bullpen arm, Matt Barnes, during the offseason. Over 142 games for Miami between 2020-22, Bleier owned a 3.16 ERA and 1.202 WHIP, compared to a 5.85 ERA and 1.350 WHIP over his 19 appearances for Boston this season.
The more perplexing issue, as Cora touched on, is how Bleier has struggled against left-handed hitters this year. Last season, lefties hit .256 with a .676 OPS against him.
This year, albeit in a much smaller sample size, batters have flipped the script. Righties are only managing to hit .231 with a .614 OPS against him, while lefties are averaging .429 with a 1.252 OPS off him.
In 2022, the WooSox set a record with 75 different players to appear in a single season.
Entering the second half of the Triple-A season and just past the midpoint of MLB’s regular season, the WooSox are barreling towards breaking that record. When new additions Ceddanne Rafaela (promoted from Double-A), Dinelson Lamet (signed), and Andres Nunez (acquired) make their first appearances for the Triple-A club, the WooSox will have used 59 players in under three months.
While frequent moves within an organization aren’t uncommon, these numbers are also another way of showing how in-flux June has been for the Red Sox. On their last road trip alone, they placed three players on the injured list. Between June 18-29, Triple-A was involved in 34 player transactions, including nine new players. According to WooSox media relations, their last stretch of back-to-back days without a single player move was June 1-2.
With their loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, the Red Sox fell to 40-41, putting them under-.500 at the exact halfway point of the regular season for the first time since 2015.
Only three teams with a 40-41 record through their first 81 games have gone on to win the World Series: the 2021 Atlanta Braves, 2003 Florida Marlins, and 1964 St. Louis Cardinals.
The Red Sox will wrap up the month of June with a weekend in Toronto. Probable pitchers for the 3-game series are James Paxton, Kutter Crawford, and Garrett Whitlock.
Next week, they return to Fenway to host the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s for three games apiece before the All-Star break.
Speaking of the annual midsummer event, the Red Sox didn’t have any finalists for the American League squad, but they’ll at least be represented on its staff. Kiyoshi Momose, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, has been named to the AL staff.