Red Sox Place Chris Sale on 10-Day IL

By Liam McKeone | Aug 17 2019

When the Red Sox signed Chris Sale to a big extension this offseason, they were expecting the ace to continue on the dominant performance he had in 2018 outside of his injury issues. Unfortunately, that hasn’t come to fruition the way they wanted it to. Sale has struggled, posting a 4.40 ERA and only six wins to 11 losses.

Things went from bad to worse on Saturday, as the Sox announced they placed Sale on the 10-day IL with elbow inflammation.

#RedSox have placed Chris Sale on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to August 14. To fill Sale’s spot on the 25-man roster, the club recalled RHP Ryan Brasier from Pawtucket.
— Guerin Austin (@guerinaustin) August 17, 2019

Dave Dombrowski also said they’d be looking to get some second opinions on the injury, including Dr. James Andrews, the go-to surgeon for serious baseball issues like Tommy John operations.

"Chris didnt feel anything when he pitched Tuesday. He felt stiffness on Wednesday." Dombrowski said. MRI today showed inflammation. There will be further evaluation. Other doctors will look at the MRIs, including Dr. James Andrews.
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) August 17, 2019

Not great, Bob! An opinion from Andrews usually means things are much worse than we thought. Not always, of course, but given Sale’s injury history and how much he relies on velocity to do his job, it’s a matter of serious concern for the Red Sox.