Red Sox’s Chris Sale Battling Illness, Will Start Spring Training ‘Slowly’
Chris Sale is looking to bounce back from a tough 2019 season, but it appears his spring training won’t get off to a fast start.
The Red Sox held a press conference Tuesday to officially introduce Ron Roenicke as Boston’s interim manager after the team mutually agreed to part ways with Alex Cora in January.
Sale dealt with a nagging elbow injury throughout last season that landed him on the injured list and ultimately shut him down early. The southpaw was cleared by Dr. James Andrews in November and immediately could begin throwing.
But during Tuesday’s presser, general manager Brian O’Halloran revealed Sale is sick, which will cause him to have a slower start to spring training than his teammates. There is some good news, though, as The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham and MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported the pitcher’s elbow and shoulder are just fine.
His arm and shoulder are fine. But Chris Sale has been sick the last few days and that could exclude him from tomorrow's activities.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) February 11, 2020
Chris Sale is sick and will start spring slowly as a result. He’s fully healthy, though.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 11, 2020
The hard-throwing lefty finished 2019 with a 6-11 record, 4.40 ERA and 218 strikeouts.