Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale continues to work his way back after injuries derailed his last three seasons. He threw a bullpen Monday and Tuesday and will face hitters on Saturday. Scott Audette/Associated Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Chris Sale will face live hitters on Saturday.
After his bullpen session on Tuesday morning, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora confirmed that the lefty will be taking the next step in his throwing program. This isn’t a rehab, simply a build up. Pitcher and manager have both said he’s “full go,” and so far, he’s right on schedule.
It’s been a long time coming. “The last live hitter I faced broke my finger,” he told the Boston Herald on Tuesday afternoon.
That would be Aaron Hicks on July 17, 2022. Only two outs into his second start of the season, Sale and his mangled finger walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium.
But overall, it’s been a much longer road back for the southpaw, who missed the entire 2020 season and more than half of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last year, a rib stress fracture kept him off the mound until July, and then the broken pinky sidelined him again in the first inning of his second start. A broken wrist ended his season for good, capping his total innings at 5 2/3.
“It’s always been something, it’s always been something for the last few years,” he said.
But while the veteran southpaw has been open about the toll the last few years have taken, he mostly speaks about gratitude and perspective, even for the little things, like facing a real, live hitter. “It’s just exciting. I’m just excited to get back in the normal routine of things, being a baseball player,” he said, “I’m just appreciative of the opportunity I have to be, you know, on track and be just, here for spring training and not anything else.”
UP-AND-DOWN
The Tuesday bullpen was an up-and-down, which builds in a break to mimic throwing multiple innings, as opposed to one continuous session of work. “40 total throws,” not counting warm-up throws, he says.
Sale wanted to face live hitters last week, but knows he has to build back up, so in the meantime, “I want to be as game-like as I can,” he said. “I’m just trying to build up arm strength, so that’s a lot of long-tossing. And not only that, but when I get on the mound, I want to repeat my mechanics, I want to work on things, and I want to repeat my mechanics, make everything in sync.”
He actually felt better in the second half of his outing. “People were more worried about the second time out,” he said. “To be totally honest with you, that one actually worked out better. I felt more comfortable, I felt more in sync.”
Other than getting some water, he wasn’t making any drastic adjustments in between his “innings,” so what changed?
“More reps,” he said. “I need reps, I need repetition, I need work. I just need to keep getting my throws. Just like anything else, the more reps you get, the more you put, the more time to focus on it, the better off you’re going to be, and I like the spot I’m in now.”
LEGENDARY HELP
Hydration and reps were key, but the break also gave Sale the opportunity to gain insight from two of the greatest to ever wear a Red Sox uniform.
Pedro Martinez and Luis Tiant arrived at JetBlue Park on Monday, and both sat in on Sale’s set.
“In between those sessions, (Pedro) came up and he’s got something for me,” Sale says with a smile, “He’s got something for me, I make time to get it.”
One doesn’t simply ignore the advice of a three-time Cy Young and first-ballot Hall of Famer.
But the current Red Sox star looks to his predecessors for guidance more than people realize. “He’s always been there for me,” Sale says of Pedro. “From the moment I became a member of this organization, he was, other than my family, he might be my biggest fan.” For a minute, he looks just like the kids who crowd around the JetBlue Park back-field fences for a glimpse of the beloved former pitcher.
Sale understands what it means to have such giants at spring training, especially after coronavirus protocols kept them at home for a few years. “Pedro’s a special guy, Luis Tiant’s another guy I lean on,” he said. “They’re just, they’re infectious. You can’t be around them and not feel a heightened sense of something. Being able to have those guys around me, I appreciate that because they’re the best, they were the best. Any time you can have guys like that around, they just boost your energy.”
HEATING UP
The last few pitches of Sale’s second set sounded like they were thrown harder than the ones before, slamming into the catcher’s mitt with a satisfyingly loud landing. Did he turn up the heat? “Yeah,” but he says that while he’s sure the team is tracking his velocity, he doesn’t know what he’s topped out at.
“I’m not worried about that. For me, pitching is so much about, ‘I feel confident, I feel strong,’ even though I know I don’t look like it,” the 6-foot, 6-inch, 183-pound Sale chuckled.
The focus right now is the craft itself, and not getting too swept up in the speed, or lack thereof. “Let’s say the hardest ball I threw today was 88 mph. I don’t want that to detract from where I’m at. And if I go out there and you know, 98 mph, I don’t want to feel like I don’t have work to do,” He says.
“That stuff is gonna come,” he said. For now, he’s “worried about the shape of my pitches, hitting mechanics, hitting my spots, pitching stuff.”
OPENING DAY
At this point, being ready for Opening Day is a legitimate possibility, though that’s over a month away. “Everything’s on track,” he says.
Coincidentally, the Red Sox’ first game of the regular season is Sale’s 34th birthday. Cora won’t name an Opening Day starter until the end of spring training, but it will be a full-circle moment if Sale gets the ball; not only has he not been the Game 1 starter since 2019, he’s started each season on the injured list since then.
Corey Kluber faced Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida in live BP on Monday; Sale doesn’t know who will step up to the plate for him this weekend.
He’s just grateful to finally be the one throwing to them.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
