Chris Sale was impressive in his first Grapefruit League action of 2019, proving the Boston Red Sox ace is still in elite form.
Chris Sale hasn’t missed a beat since we last saw him on a mound sending a flailing Manny Machado to one knee to clinch the World Series for the Boston Red Sox.
The lanky lefty made his spring training debut Saturday afternoon, tossing four shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves. A deep postseason run led to a shorter offseason, which is why the Red Sox waited this long to get Sale into a game. It doesn’t seem as if Sale needs much more time to prepare for the upcoming season based on this dominant outing.
The day began with Sale giving up a rocket off the bat of Ozzie Albies, a ball hit so hard off the left field wall that the young second baseman had to hold at first base for a long single. That would be the first of only two hits allowed by Sale in the game. He retired the next batter on a lazy fly ball and ended the inning with a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play.
Yeah.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 16, 2019
Chris Sale looks ready. pic.twitter.com/MYheJ8xxvp
His first pitch of the game registered at a mere 89 mph and Sale sat in the low 90’s throughout his outing. Not to worry though, as this appears to be by design. The Red Sox want to gradually build up their ace this spring, both in terms of pitch count and velocity. There’s no need for Sale to come out hurling 98 mph fastballs in his first exhibition game.
Velocity isn’t a necessity when you have a filthy slider capable of embarrassing hitters. Sale’s breaking ball was in mid-season form and he had no trouble throwing it for strikes. Five of Sale’s seven strikeouts came on the slider. He notched his first when the batter failed to hold up on a check swing, caught two more looking, and sent another pair down swinging.
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The plan entering the game was for Sale to be capped at 65 pitches yet his day ended after throwing only 50 through four innings. He finished his day in the bullpen where he threw an additional 15 pitches to meet his quota. It appears the team didn’t want to pull Sale in the middle of an inning due to his pitch count, a decision that may have had as much to do with ensuring Matt Barnes would enter a clean inning. Given how efficiently Sale was throwing, he could have been trusted to get through another frame in fewer than 15 pitches.
Then again, why risk it? It was Sale’s first outing of the spring and he was able to get through it healthy and feeling great about his performance. Sale finished the day tossing four innings, allowing two hits, without a walk or a run and striking out seven.
There’s only enough time in the spring schedule for Sale to get one more start before these games begin to matter. Attempting to squeeze in a third appearance would prevent him from being ready to take the mound when the Red Sox open the season in Seattle. While he’s yet to be announced as the Opening Day starter, it’s hard to imagine the team would bump him to the back of the rotation simply to allow him to have an extra exhibition start.
Based on what saw today, Sale doesn’t need much more of a tune up. Get him up to around 80 pitches next time out, see if he can hit the mid-90’s with his fastball, and he’ll be ready to go.