Red Sox Place Chris Sale On DL

The Red Sox announced that they’ve placed left-hander Chris Sale on the disabled list, retroactive to July 28, with mild inflammation in his pitching shoulder. The team recalled righty Brandon Workman from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Sale’s roster spot.

Fortunately for Boston, expectations are that Sale will only miss one start, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. Assuming that proves true, this won’t be a catastrophic occurrence for Boston, which has seen Sale continue to serve as an elite starter since acquiring him from the White Sox entering 2017.

Dating back to his change in Sox, Sale has worked to a tremendous 2.56 ERA/2.31 FIP with awe-inspiring strikeout and walk rates (13.04 K/9, 1.92 BB/9) across 355 1/3 innings. Last season was the third straight 200-plus-inning campaign for Sale, who has logged a 2.04 ERA/2.08 FIP with 13.21 K/9 and 2.11 BB/9 over 141 frames this year to once again put himself in Cy Young contention. Thanks in part to the 28-year-old Sale’s brilliance, Boston has registered the majors’ best record (75-33) en route to a six-game lead in the AL East.

Whether he misses one start or more, Sale will count as the third BoSox starter on the DL, joining Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright – each of whom are seemingly dealing with more severe injuries. For now, the Red Sox will continue with Rick Porcello, David Price, the just-acquired Nathan Eovaldi and Drew Pomeranz in their rotation, and they’ll utilize lefty Brian Johnson as a starter to cover for Sale’s absence. However, in the event Sale’s injury proves more serious than expected (and if Rodriguez and Wright still aren’t back), perhaps Boston will end up on the lookout for yet another trade pickup prior to the end-of-August waiver deadline.