Chris Sale Returns to Disabled List

Well, this isn’t fun. Chris Sale, undisputed ace of the Red Sox, and front-runner of the American League Cy Young discussion, has returned to the Disabled List with the same injury that put him on it earlier this month. The dreaded left shoulder inflammation.

With any luck, this is just another precautionary measure, and with the Red Sox up by 10.5 games (the Yankees game today looking likely to push it back to 10 games), they’ve decided not to risk anything, regarding the ace of their staff.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, usually, and it is concerning that Sale has now had two trips to the Disabled List in the past 30 days, but this is also a pitcher who knows his body, and has managed to avoid serious injury in the past.

With Sale out, and no off-day to break up the rotation, the Red Sox will either need to call up a pitcher to take his start, or go with one of their bullpen arms, like say, Drew Pomeranz. No matter how you slice it, any pitcher is a downgrade for Sunday’s game, and this is a definite blow to the Red Sox for the next week, and potentially more.

On a less important note, Chris Sale was leading the AL Cy Young discussion, as stated, mostly in contention with Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer. With Bauer’s own injury status coming out, it appears that the AL Cy Young discussion could blow wide open if this injury keeps Sale out for longer than the minimum ten days that he needs to spend on the DL.