[ad_1]
Chris Sale will begin a rehabilitation mission today, according to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. Additionally, the Red Sox plan to recall Tanner Houck today, according to Dan Roche from WBZ.
As noted by Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, this would be Sale’s first game since August 13, 2019. Shortly after, he was arrested with an inflamed elbow but was not recommended for Tommy John surgery. Sale tried to return for the 2020 season but ultimately needed Tommy John and underwent the procedure in March 2020, missing the entirety of that season.
Without a sale, the Red Sox floundered and found themselves last in LA East, ending the shortened season with a 24-36 record. However, 2021 has been a complete reversal so far as the club find themselves atop the division with a 55-36 record. Despite their good place in the standings, the rotation was not a strong point for them. The starters as a whole produced an ERA of 4.47, the 21st best in the majors, although the advanced metrics were a bit more charitable, with a FIP of 3.86, an xFIP of 4.11 and a SIERA of 4.20. Concerns about rotation have also intensified in recent times. Garret richards implemented an ERA of 6.45 and Eduardo Rodriguez one in 5.35 since early June. Martin perez and Nick Pivetta weren’t much better, at 4.76 and 4.85 over the same period, respectively. Nathan Eovaldi has been excellent but still comes with injury issues. He hasn’t gone past 125 innings in a season since 2015 and has already scored 103 1/3 this year.
Sale has been one of baseball’s best pitchers in his career, and if he was healthy he would be a game-changer for any rotation. From 2012 to 2019, Sale pitched 1,535 1/3 innings with a 3.05 ERA, 30.8% strikeout rate, and 5.5% walk rate, which produced 42, 8 fWAR and helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series.
As the transaction deadline approaches, Sale’s health and performance could impact the urgency with which Boston continues with rotational upgrades. The club has so far remained under the luxury tax line, but barely. (According to Roster Resource, their luxury tax is $ 208 million, just below the first threshold of $ 210 million.) That doesn’t leave much leeway, if they insist on staying in limbo under this. line. But a healthy sale would be a bigger upgrade than any business acquisition they could hope to land in a trade.
In the meantime, the pitching staff are hoping for a boost from Houck as they start a major series against the Yankees. Houck has racked up a 3.07 ERA with 19 K and 3 BBs in 14 2/3 innings in Triple-A since returning from flexor tendon strain.
[ad_2]
Source link