Red Sox: Three up, three down heading into the All-Star break

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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 09: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox returns to the dugout after pitching during the second inning of the Red Sox home opening game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park on April 09, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Chris Sale landed on this side of the ledger after April as well, but it’s far more concerning to have to put him back on it at this point in the season. Sale hasn’t exactly pitched poorly; his June ERA looks great at 2.73 and followed a solid 2.82 from May. But his overall numbers don’t tell the whole story of his season.

That’s all a roundabout way of saying that Sale has been wildly inconsistent. He began May by pitching 21 innings across three starts and allowing a total of three runs. Over his next three starts, he tossed 17.1 innings and allowed 11 runs to cross the plate. In fairness, two were unearned, but that’s still an alarming shift from one half of the month to the next.

Still not concerned? Let’s examine his performance in June. Across Sale’s first three starts last month, he threw 22 innings and allowed, again, three runs. His final two starts of the month spanned 11 innings and saw him surrender nine runs (eight earned).

His inconsistency is remarkably consistent. It’s also very alarming. Sale is the ace, the stopper. If the Red Sox can’t trust him to be that, the season is lost. Sale doesn’t have to be perfect every day. Nobody is. But he does have to be better than this. The Red Sox will not catch the Yankees without Sale at his best, and they absolutely will not defend their title.

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