The Red Sox reinstated Chris Sale to make his season debut tonight against the Rays, as had been reported last week. The veteran southpaw missed the first few months of the year after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib during Spring Training. It’s the third straight injury-impacted season for Sale, who missed all of 2020 and the bulk of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery. His return is a necessary welcome development for a Boston club that has five starting pitching options (Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill, Garrett Whitlock and Connor Seabold) on the 15-day injured list at the moment.
Boston optioned rookie right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding active roster move. The 23-year-old, who’s one of the best pitching prospects in the organization, was promoted last week and made his first two big league starts. Bello surrendered nine runs with seven strikeouts and six walks in eight innings, however, so the club will send him back to the minors for a bit. A 40-man roster vacancy for Sale was created yesterday when catcher Kevin Plawecki landed on the COVID-19 injured list, but Boston will need to make another move in that regard once Plawecki is cleared to return.
Updates on a pair of other notable injury moves:
- The Blue Jays welcomed back catcher Danny Jansen from the 10-day injured list, installing him right into tonight’s starting lineup against the Phillies. The 27-year-old missed a month after fracturing a finger on his left hand, his second notable injury of the season. That and an April oblique strain have limited Jansen to just 19 games thus far, but he’s blasted seven home runs in limited action. In a corresponding active roster move, top prospect Gabriel Moreno was optioned back to Triple-A Buffalo. A consensus top prospect, Moreno was promoted for his MLB debut shortly after Jansen went down. The 22-year-old only collected one extra-base hit (a double) in his first 60 trips to the plate as a big leaguer, though. With Jansen back and the Jays firmly in win-now mode, they’ll turn back to the veteran while giving Moreno regular reps in Triple-A. Across 36 games with the Bisons, Moreno is hitting .324/.380/.404.
- Last night, the Rangers transferred catcher/designated hitter Mitch Garver from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list. That’s not a surprise, as he’ll miss the rest of the season after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair the injured flexor tendon in his forearm. The move freed a spot on Texas’ 40-man roster, which Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests (on Twitter) is likely to go to reliever Jonathan Hernández. The right-hander hasn’t pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2021, but he’s been on a rehab stint at Triple-A Round Rock for the past month and a half. Grant notes that his allotted rehab window wraps up tomorrow, meaning he’ll have to be reinstated from the 60-day IL or shut down from his rehab entirely. The former seems likelier, as manager Chris Woodward suggested Hernández should be back with the big league club soon.
Jansen has to be showcased.
Maybe for the 2023 season. Moreno needs more time; 1 extra base hit in 60 appearances isn’t going to get it done.
Is there a bigger jerk than Chris Sale in mlb
Tommy Pham?
Machado, Donaldson, Price, Stroman to name a few
Sounds like a pretty good all jerk team
I’m sorry you must want the all choir boy team. I don’t care if the player is nice, just win. One great thing about Sale, he hates losing more than he likes winning, players like that put pressure on other players to do their job.
He’s actually really good with fans and while in Chicago was universally loved by teammates. Remember, nearly all pitchers go through a stretch of injuries. He got the last out of World Series for a title winning and his track record of dominance is not easily matched. I’ll gladly take Chris Sale’s competitiveness back in Chicago, especially considering the garbage going on there now.
Jack Flaherty.
Yup, he definitely banged your mom.
And none months later you were hatched.
Are players not allowed to lose their tempers in an area normally closed off to the media? Sale also compensated the team for the damage he caused and owned up to it. I’m still a Sale fan.
Exactly….give me the player that will destroy a clubhouse after sucking all night, shows me he cares….and he paid for the damage so it’s all good….sometimes you are frustrated and have to vent….better to vent on a TV than a person
give me the player that will destroy a clubhouse after sucking all night, shows me he cares
==============================
I use to hate playing with players that didn’t care if we won or not. It was only the local sports teams, and you don’t have to go crazy. But if you don’t care whether you win or lose, what’s the point of even playing?
You play on local sports teams to have fun and share pizza and beers after.You must have been that guy everyone avoided. Even Manny said losing isn’t the end of the world.
Banuelos?
They just hatin cuz he’s not vaxxed.
Don’t forget each new magical vax that comes out on a quarterly basis to enhance the forcefield provided by the first one.
Joe Biden
Boston, you have my sympathy. I guess you realize how LAA feels. What a terrible acquisition. This dude farts & he’s on the IL.
There are many years left on this contract, I hope for Boston & MLB that something comes through on this contract.
He’s made out of glass but it won’t stop him having a fit and smashing TV’s in the clubhouse
He was made of bullet proof glass until he got to Boston, just another case of sign me to millions, and I’ll change the glass in my window?
I hate it when you trade for a pitcher. He leads the league in innings pitched his first year. Helps you win a World Series the next year. — Seriously what are you talking about? He had Tommy John Surgery. Lots of pitchers have to go through that. GM shouldn’t have signed him to an extension without some safeguards, but all in all he’s an excellent pitcher.
I liked the Lackey contract – which gave the Sox an option for an additional yr at the minimum salary if he had TJ,
Yep, a terrible acquisition. I just hate guys that get the last out in a World Series. Just terrible.
Chopper – Sale pitching the last out in 2018 was before the Red Sox re-signed him. The new contract is for $145,000,000 from 2020 through the end of the 2024 season.
The trade for Sale was great! The resigning not so much. The first two years of the new contract Sale earned $58,000,000, but only pitched 42 innings (he made abou $1,400,000 per inning).
Is JD hurt? That why he didn’t pinch hit against Tampa tonight?
No news of an injury.
Scheduled night off….
Just read he’s day to day so Cora gets a pass.
Downs looks better than his AAA numbers so far.
Downs cut down on his leg kick when he was sent down and started doing much better at AAA. He got called back up and is continuing to do well.