Despite lackluster outing, Chris Sale flashes positive signs in first start of season
Veteran left-hander allowed seven runs on seven hits in three innings
It certainly wasn’t the start to the season that Chris Sale imagined.
Making his first appearence since July 17, 2022, Sale surrendered seven runs on seven hits in just three innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. He gave up three home runs, two of which came in the first inning, and was done after 74 pitches (43 strikes).
Sale’s poor showing put the Red Sox in an early 7-1 hole, but the bullpen stepped up, as did the offense, and Boston was able to steal a 9-8 win thanks to Adam Duvall’s two-run, walk-off homer.
“I left them completely out to dry tonight. That’s about as embarassed as I’ve ever been on a baseball field,” Sale said. “Bullpen couldn’t have come in and done a better job. … For them to get through the rest of that game with just one minor thing, it was amazing.
“Our offense — what they did tonight was incredible. They picked us up, they’re the reason we won this game.”
While it was evident that Sale didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday, there is still reason to believe that the seven-time All-Star’s first start of the season is more of an anomaly rather than the norm.
Sale’s fastball was consistently sitting right around 94-95 mph, so the velocity was there, but location definitely seemed to be an issue. Three of the hits Sale allowed came off the fastball, with another three coming off the sinker.
If you’re the type of person who looks at the glass half full, then Sale just needs to spot his pitches better. But if you’re on the other side of the spectrum, you’re more focused on why Baltimore hitters were making such solid contact so easily. Considering Sale has been known for bringing swing-and-miss stuff throughout his career, what was the difference on Saturday? Was location truly the issue, or was it something else?
Those are questions that Sale doesn’t even have answers to just quite yet.
“I gotta go back and look,” Sale said. “Just seemed like everything I threw up there, they were waiting for it.”
Sale did still miss his fair share of bats, though, picking up six strikeouts on the afternoon. He seemingly went to his off-speed pitches early and often, working around the pair of first-inning blasts to fan three with his slider. However, he didn’t pick up another strikeout with that pitch for the rest of his start.
So, if there’s anything to take away from Saturday’s start to give you some confidence for the next time Sale takes the mound, it’s that the velocity still seems to be there and the slider has some good bite.
The cold, hard truth is that this isn’t the Chris Sale that made a name for himself with the Chicago White Sox or the Chris Sale that struck out 308 batters in 214 1/3 innings in 2018. This version is one that has made 12 starts over the past four seasons.
Sale is more than capable of making a comeback and returning to All-Star form, but he’s not going to do it by next week. As long as he’s making steps in the right direction in each start, Red Sox fans should feel good about Sale being a valuable arm in a rotation that is hopefully helping Boston fight for a playoff spot down the stretch.
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