Red Sox Predictions: Chris Sale will win over 20 games in 2017
Chris Sale makes his Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park debut tomorrow night. His expectations are lofty to say the least, but he’s deserving of those expectations.
Some may call me an optimist for saying Chris Sale will win over 20 games for the Boston Red Sox this season, and I understand where you’re coming from.
There have only been six 20-game winners since Sale became a starting pitcher in 2012, while Sale himself has never won more than 17 games in a season.
With that being said, Sale never played for a relevant Chicago White Sox team. Have you seen this Red Sox lineup?! Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland, Jackie Bradley. Pablo Sandoval is coming in hot, and if Sandy Leon can repeat anything close to what he did last year for a full season, he’ll be one of the top hitting catchers in baseball.
The Red Sox will score runs for Sale, period. He’ll be pitching with less stress on his shoulders to carry to the team to a win. And on top of that he’ll be focused for an entire season. Once it became clear that the White Sox would not be in playoff contention in mid-July, it seemed like Sale did not pitch with as much purpose.
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I also believe that there was more to Sale cutting up the uniforms last season. I think it was a message to the front office saying ‘this team is playing awful and you guys are worried about the damn jerseys?!’. The comfort and fit of the jerseys was secondary. It was an outward display of frustration. If you don’t believe me just check out how the White Sox were playing leading up to the day he cut up the jerseys (July 23rd). Hopefully you do believe me, they lost 8 of their last 9 with two walk-off losses.
If you’ve ever played baseball, you know how deflating a walk-off loss is. If you watch baseball, you know deflating a walk-off loss is. And if your team has been losing a bunch recently after a hot start, like the White Sox last season, it hurts even more.
Anyway, Sale is on a better team now, and he’ll only be worried about one thing, his job on the mound. Not whether or not the lineup can give him three runs so he can pitch free and easy, or if the front office is actually worried about winning. Just pitching.
If you are of the persuasion that Sale can’t win 20 games because his career ERA is too high, you must have a very short memory. Rick Porcello won 22 games with a 3.15 ERA. It was good enough to keep the Red Sox in games, they scored enough runs to where that was good enough. Hell, David Price‘s 3.99 ERA was good enough. He won 17 games last season.
So with Sale only focused on pitching, his ERA will go down. On top of that, say his ERA is anywhere from 2.80-3.20, it will absolutely be good enough to win 20 games!
Sale is a better pitcher than Rick Porcello and I don’t think theres much doubting that, so he is absolutely capable of winning over 20 games. If Sale does what he does best on a nightly basis, there’s no reason in the world he can’t win 20, 21, 22, 23, heck, even 24 or 25 games this season.
Next: Red Sox Bullpen Hierarchy Questions
If you believe in the “first year in Boston syndrome”, where big name pitchers can’t succeed in Boston, you’re looking for something that isn’t there. Is Boston a tough city to play in? Absolutely. But, I couldn’t be more confident that Chris Sale is the perfect guy for Boston.