FanPost Friday: Chris Sale Expectations

It’s finally here. After waiting for what seems like forever, and might as well be at two years, we are finally going to see Chris Sale take a major-league mound again for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2019. The southpaw will be taking the mound for his debut on Saturday to take on the Orioles, and it couldn’t come for a better time for his Red Sox team.

They are, to put it simply, reeling, and are in desperate need of some sort of spark. We know Chris Sale has the talent to provide that spark every five days, and we know he has the aura to up the game of those around him as well. We don’t know that it will actually happen, though. While the return from Tommy John is less tumultuous than it was even a decade ago, it’s not always a smooth ride. There’s no guarantee he’ll come out right away looking like Chris Sale.

So, that’s this week’s FanPost Friday. What are your expectations for Chris Sale down the stretch? Will it be smooth? Will he hit roadblocks? If so, will they be solved in time to turn this season around for the Red Sox? What kind of impact, if any, will he have on the rest of the staff? There’s a lot of ways to go with this one.

Leave us a FanPost, and you could be featured on the front page on Sunday ahead of round one. As always, here is our handy guide to making a FanPost.