3:25PM: Sale threw three innings of work rather than his scheduled two in his first rehab outing today, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports. The left-hander allowed three singles in his three shutout frames, and threw his fastball in the 94-95mph range, reaching as high as 97mph. As for Houck, manager Alex Cora told Speier and other reporters that Houck will probably start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, and be used in the bullpen for Boston’s current series against the Yankees.
11:37AM: Chris Sale is going to begin a rehab assignment today, according to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. Additionally, the Red Sox are planning on recalling Tanner Houck today, according to Dan Roche of WBZ.
As noted by Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, this would be Sale’s first game since August 13th, 2019. Shortly after that, he was shut down with elbow inflammation but was not recommended for Tommy John surgery. Sale tried to come back for the 2020 season but eventually did require Tommy John and underwent the procedure in March of 2020, missing the entirety of that season.
Without Sale, the Red Sox floundered and wound up last in the AL East, finishing the shortened season with a record of 24-36. However, 2021 has been a complete reversal so far, as the club finds itself atop the division with a record of 55-36. Despite their strong placement in the standings, the rotation has not been a strong suit for them. The starters as a whole have produced an ERA of 4.47, 21st-best in the majors, although advanced metrics are a bit more charitable, with a FIP of 3.86, xFIP of 4.11 and a SIERA of 4.20. Concerns over the rotation have also become heightened lately. Garrett Richards has put up an ERA of 6.45 and Eduardo Rodriguez one of 5.35 since the start of June. Martin Perez and Nick Pivetta have not been much better, at 4.76 and 4.85 during that same timeframe, respectively. Nathan Eovaldi has been excellent but always comes with injury concerns. He’s he hasn’t surpassed 125 innings in a season since 2015 and has already tallied 103 1/3 this year.
Sale has been one of the best pitchers in baseball during his career and, if healthy, he would be a gamechanger for any rotation. From 2012 to 2019, Sale hurled 1535 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.05, a strikeout rate of 30.8% and walk rate of 5.5%, which produced 42.8 fWAR and helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series in the process.
As the trade deadline approaches, the health and performance of Sale could impact the urgency with which Boston pursues rotation upgrades. The club has stayed under the luxury tax line so far, but just barely. (According to Roster Resource, their luxury tax hit is $208MM, just below the first threshold of $210MM.) That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room, if they insist on limboing under that line. But a healthy Sale would be a bigger upgrade than any trade acquisition they could hope to land in a trade.
In the meantime, the pitching staff is hoping for a boost from Houck as they begin an important series against the Yankees. Houck has put up a 3.07 ERA with 19 Ks and 3 BBs in 14 2/3 innings in Triple-A since returning from a flexor tendon strain.
Hide the throwback jerseys!
Could you imagine if Sale had been an all star this year and they tried to make him wear those awful uniforms
Ha I forgot he did that. One of the weirder tantrums in recent memory that I can remember
It’s not just the throwbacks. MLB stop with the different colors just to try to sell more jerseys. The AL’s ASG uniform was hideous.
I hate that with a passion, and the RS are the worst offenders. I hate to bash them, since we’ve had a great 17-year run, but enough trying to market a million different shirts. I’m not buying a Mother’s Day shirt. I am not buying a Father’s Day shirt. I’m not buying a shirt with stupid player nicknames on them.
Joe you forgot the worst of them all, the Red Sox City Connect jerseys. Every time I see a person wearing one, I cringe.
WTF is wrong with you? I spent $thousands$ for a hypnotherapist to forget those atrocities.
Seriously, thanks for reminding me. I knew there was a recent jersey that annoyed the crap out of me. Maybe scrounging up every dollar you can find is the way to become a billionaire and own the RS, but this feels almost like begging.
Wonder if Adam Eaton was snuggling the one he kept from that incident while wishing Drake could give him some clubhouse leadership, after being DFA’d the other day
What a day to be a Red Sox fan Durran, Houck, and now Sale I’m so happy right now.
The dumbest thing (in a long list of dumb things) the Wilpon family did was not to hire Chaim Bloom as their head of Baseball Ops. They could have had a winning team and strong farm system within their budget. It cost them the Mets franchise.
The smartest thing John Henry has done since buying the Red Sox was to hire Chaim Bloom to run Baseball Ops. This is only beginning to become clear.
The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is about to be supplanted by a Red Sox-Rays rivalry. The Yankees are so far behind that only the national sports media and baseball fans that don’t understand the game can’t see it…..
Erik Neander – Kevin Cash
Chaim Bloom – Alex Cora
Brian Cashman – Aaron Boone
Which 2 don’t fit with the other 4?
LOL
It’s a solid start for Bloom but a Henry owned Red Sox team has to win a WS to be successful. Getting close like the Rays does not cut in a large market. TE, BS and DD all watched duck boat parades and to evaluate CB’s reign favorably, he will also have to produce a championship winner. I like what I’ve seen so far but winning is mandatory.
You’re correct, but the Rays keep getting close on shoestring budgets. Giving someone with Rays-trained tools a top budget sets the sky as the limit…see what’s been going on with the Dodgers, right?
I agree, solid start for Bloom. He’s had some bad signings, but more than made up for it with great trades. The next couple weeks will go a long way in determining his legacy.
Come now, that isn’t exactly fair. The moment you start to underestimate the Yankees is when they’ll roar back into your face again. They have some work to do at present, but I’m not going to sleep on them. Ever.
I don’t know. To me the Yankees mystique has taken a hit. They owned the 20th century but now it looks like they have fallen in with the rest of the pack. They may always be one of the leaders of the pack but there isn’t such a separation anymore from the other team.
…..SalaryCapMyth…..”but there isn’t such a separation anymore from the other team.”
Yes agreed, because they are not out spending every other team by $50-$100 million like they used to.
I think they are going to find some increased velocity of RPs to be a factor in the NYY ‘decline’. As it becomes more and more difficult for a 32 y.o. to catch up to a 99 mph FB, these l/t contracts become more ineffective.
I hope this isn’t the only upgrade Bloom is planning for a first placed team needing a boost. Richards needs to be DFAed or something where he can’t hurt your team.
You will be tied to a chair, your eyelids taped open, and you will watch Garrett Richards AND LIKE IT!
Ok that made roll over lagging hard!
Sorry Pashk but Bloom is not releasing Richards. He’ll be in the pen. He needs to figure out why he can’t go one two three in the first. He settles down after a miserable start.
It certainly feels that way…
Repeat after me… WE LOVE RICHARDS
JR Richards? Mary Richards? Even Renee Richards? But Garrett? Not so much but it only takes a hot September to give him some love.
Before Bruce Jenner err sorry Caitlin, there was Rene Richards. Throwback!
Ryan Brasure should be coming back soon as well.
No matter how you spell his name, I don’t want him back. He’d be at best #7 on the bullpen depth chart.
Brasier has been pretty good for us, and if he pitches like he usually does, has to be better than Brice and Andriese.
Stuff it. The only thing worse than your fake prayers for players that will never know or care about you is when you try to post an actual baseball comment.
Joe Brady- I agree Brasier has been pretty good….I just hope he can keep his head out of the way of any baseballs fly at it!
No more concussions!
He was good for us just one year, 2018 when he pitched only 33 innings.
He was brutal in 2019 with a 4.85 ERA
And he was really good for us in 2020. He has a career 3.70 ERA with us, and a 3.67 FIP. A K/W of 3.08 with 1 HR/9. That is plenty good.
As a long-time White Sox fan, I’m glad he’s back. Hope this is the end of his arm troubles because it’s a lot of fun to watch him pitch.
I agree entirely. His years with the White Sox were terrific. What do you think, hyrax—who won the Sale trade, Boston or Chicago? Or is this one of those trades where each party got exactly what it hoped for?
Win-win for both teams, for sure. Sale was a primary reason the Sox won the World Series, and the White Sox have two young stud building blocks for years to come.
The trade is a loss for Boston. Why? Because Chicago wanted Benny and Boston insisted on Moncada instead. Obviously the Red Sox kept the wrong prospect.
Jury is still out—and hard to say that so far removed, but Chris Sale was standing on the mound and recorded the last out of a World Series. If that is the goal, Red Sox lead right now—-but the White variety seem poised to make it a true win-win trade.
You need more than one pitcher to win a WS. The White Sox never came close to winning with Sale, so it’s a win-win for both clubs.
Boring answer, win-win. The Red Sox won the trade because it was a major factor in a World Series title, but when you look at where Moncada and Kopech are now it’s hard to say the White Sox lost.
Can’t wait for tonight’s game and the lead up to the deadline which includes 13 games against NY, TB and TOR. Bloom has some work to do – I’m thinking Sale, Brasier and maybe Seabold are given a chance to bolster our pitching before we go out and add anything significant from the outside. Those in-house pitching options and a lefty platoon at first like Carlos Santana seems the more plausible route IMO but we’ll see! Let me know what you other Sox fans wanna see happen.
This seems like a pretty reasonable guess as to how Bloom will approach it
I think the plan is to get Franchy some reps at first. I mean if the guy could ever put it together in the majors that would work, but he looks like a AAAA guy right now. Looking forward to seeing what Seabold can do and if Brasier can be a part of the bullpen, but we might not get to see Seabold this year I don’t think. There is an extreme lack of available left handed hitting first basemen that bring anything at all to the table. Santana may be the best on an expiring deal.
@mookiessnarl Franchy at 1st is intriguing, especially in a platoon where he mainly faces RHPs. He also used to play SS I believe so he has some infield experience.
Right now, I wouldn’t make a single move. The rotation is more than sufficient pending Sale’s return. The BP has been good. We’re roughly 2nd in offense over the past 28 days, and 3rd in ERA. Verdugo has been our worst hitter over the past 28 days, but HRs come and go in bunches.
I would wait until we see if anyone gets desperate to move someone. Most of the guys traded won’t represent a major upgrade over our current players, except for the tail-end of the BP, and I wouldn’t pay much to upgrade our #7/8 RPs.
@JoeBrady I would not say this rotation is sufficient – Perez, Richards, E-Rod and Pivetta have all been unpredictable. Come playoff time relying on Sale coming off an injury, injury prone Eovaldi and these other guys is a tough call. Agreed on the BP being all set, but I’d look into getting a #3 starter and a platoon partner for Bobby D. It’s an interesting spot we’re in overachieving while in the midst of a retool, doubt Bloom is eager to give up any top prospects.
Can’t say I’d be happy going to the playoffs with the current starters. However, a three of Sales, Houck and Eovaldi us intriguing if thus is the Six year, Sale has no set backs and is not only dominant but strong in October, Houck pitches like last year’s call up and Eovaldi continues his best season ever. A lot to ask but sometimes you roll hot dice (like in 2018)
Fair enough. I was thinking about the regular season. I’m not sure I would invest heavily in this team to win a WS. If I thought that Sale was going to become vintage Sale, I’d feel differently. But in his first year back, especially coming back in August, he could easily be a 5-inning 4.00 pitcher.
The second issue is that, even if we play well, and make the playoffs, we might not finish 1st. So again, I am not sure I want to invest in a wildcard team. But a lot could change. If Eovaldi and ERod are pitching well, maybe.
But basically, I would wait until I see if anyone is going cheap. Some teams inevitably overplay their hands, and are scrambling at the deadline to move players. And some teams lose 6 games in the last week and go into sell mode. There is still a chance a Scherzer could fall into our laps.
IRT Bloom, he strikes me as flexible, I’d bet real money that Mayer was not on our draft board, and that we had other names for our 4-slot. But as soon as Mayer dropped into our lap, Bloom was smart enough to throw out his strategy.
I’d bet he has a list of names for guys that are not instrumental to his long-term plans. He could like Downs, but he also knows that Yorke could our future 2B.
In my view, you see a championship, you go for it. There may not be a better opportunity. The Sox won 13 which was a shock. This team reminds me of that team and a hot Devers, JDM and Xman can carry the team to the title. it doesn’t have to be un-human effort by just Papi.
Unfortunately, Seabold hasn’t pitched all year due to injury; I don’t think he’ll be option for the big club this year. If you ask me, adding Sale & Houck to the rotation along with Brasure in the bullpen addresses all their needs on the mound. They could look to add some help at 1B, but with Duran coming up, they seem to have a darn good squad right now. Every team has holes, but Boston can fill most of theirs internally.
No one asked you.
Hall of Fame or no
Not yet, but he’s got a good chance.
Easily a HOFer.
Funny how a FIP and SIERA that’s respectable can lead to a bad pitching staff. Guess that’s just reality boring fantasy in the butt.
biting, not boring
Hey, whatever you are into is fine.
All of Red Sox Nation collectively holds breath thinking, please let it be Andriese, please let it be Andreise, please let it be Andriese.
Concerns over the rotation have also become heightened lately.
==============================================================
Lately has no real definition. But over the past 28 days, our 5 SPs’ ERAs:
Eovaldi 3.33
ERod 3.52
Perez 2.74
Pivetta 4.33
Richards 7.59
If Richards is the worst of it, I’d have no issue giving Houck an few starts, and then replacing Houck with Sale.
Best July addition this season ?
Well back up is on the way with Sale,Houck,and Duran all coming who needs a trade deadline not the sox
Sale over performed his rehab today!! Good sign!! (Knock on wood)
Why does Dumbrowski like to sign pitchers into old age?
Good year to be a RS fan. Lots of upside to look forward to.
Sale didn’t hate the jersey’s.. He was frustrated & hated the White Sox as a whole.. They will never be great like the Red Sox.. Never forget that Chris Sale is still the best pitcher on the planet & he’s definitely on the road to redemption after returning from Tommy John surgery…