[ad_1]
Normally contenders, the Red Sox finished with one of the majors’ worst records of 2020, winning just 24 of 60 games. An obvious reason? They received no contributions from their two best left-handed starters Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez, who missed the season with health problems.
While it would be nice for the Red Sox to get full years from both Sale and Rodriguez in 2021, it doesn’t seem likely. As for Sale, baseball chief Chaim Bloom revealed on Thursday (via Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald) that the ace will not be available at the start of next season.
“When he comes back, it’s good,” Bloom said. “Because we know it won’t be at the start of the season.”
Sale had Tommy John surgery in March, which typically requires a 12-15 month recovery period. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Boston will miss Sale for some of the time next year. But that’s still far from ideal for a team that signed Sale for a five-year, $ 145 million extension that just started last season.
The news is much better for Rodriguez, who said on Thursday MLB Network Radio, “I will be 100% ready for next season.” Rodriguez had a career campaign in 2019, but COVID-19 and myocarditis put him aside this year. He was just allowed to start walking again at the end of September, So it’s remarkable that Rodriguez is on track to be a part of the Red Sox’s season opener in a few months.
Besides Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi, the Red Sox may not be sure who will be on their starting lineup early next year. Their rotation stumbled to a bottom of 5.34 ERA / 5.50 FIP barrel in 2020, although Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta has shown some promise over five combined starts and could gain places. Otherwise, Boston can try to recruit at least one free agency veteran to round out the squad.
[RELATED: Red Sox Offseason Outlook]
[ad_2]
Source link