Mystery man hits mound
No one knows how Sale will throw tonight
Chris Sale was forever and always supposed to be the Red Sox’ exclamation point.
Instead, as the playoffs arrived, he’s morphed into the question mark.
For somebody who should need no introduction, Sale might fail a facial recognition test. He hasn’t appeared in a sixth inning for the Red
Sox since
July, has thrown only 17 innings since August with lower than normal velocity and good but not electric stuff.
He was their best pitcher last year and he was by far their best pitcher in the first half of this year.
And tonight, that gangly southpaw entrusted with throwing the first pitch of the Red Sox postseason is a subject of interest for the wrong reasons: that velocity, the extent of his extension, the soundness of his shoulder, his sharpness and just his overall stuff.
The reality with Sale and the Red Sox is that there are way too many unknowns swirling around their ace, riddles, which beyond a radar gun only the Yankees hitters can answer.
Are they biting and flailing at his slider? Are they late and helpless at his fastball? Are they pounding him or is he pounding them?
For a pitcher who held the Yankees to one run, a .470 OPS, a .188 batting average with 19 strikeouts and one walk over 13 innings and two starts this season, there sure is more mystery than mastery surrounding tonight’s start for anyone’s liking.
With one exception, Sale was in his usual upbeat but no-nonsense mode in his media session yesterday. He responded with an almost curt “no” when asked to talk about his success against the Yankees this year. He was only slightly more expansive when it came to any concerns about his effectiveness whether or not he lights up the radar gun.
“I don’t care what I have on a given day, I should be able to find a way with whatever I have,” said Sale. “In terms of what that was, it’s a game — what are you going to do? Sometimes you go out there and you have your best, sometimes you don’t. This is sport. This is baseball. You have to find a way with whatever you have on any given day and roll with it.”
Wednesday night, Pedro Martinez tweeted “I believe (Sale) has had plenty of time to fine-tune anything and for the medicine to kick in.”
Asked about the “medicine,” Sale skirted any specifics, which specifically could include anything from a cortisone shot or an extra-strong dose of antiinflammatory to treat the irritation in his left shoulder that has been dogging him since July.
“Luckily for myself we were in a position to be able to handle it in the way we wanted to and with the best possible medical staff and training staff on the planet,” said Sale. “And, yeah, we did what we had to do to get ready and here we are.”
Manager Alex Cora said it is a realistic expectation for Sale to hit 100 pitches.
“Now he’s a full go,” said Cora. “Just go out there and perform. He’s in a good place. He’s ready to roll. I think he’s very excited to start Game 1 and we’re excited, too.”
To add further intrigue to the mystery surrounding Sale, don’t forget to factor in relatively ancient history. A year ago, Sale made the first postseason start of his career and it was not far from terrible. In five innings, he allowed nine hits, three of them home runs, and seven runs.
One year later, Sale believes he is wiser.
“Absolutely. I think any time you get in a position like this you know it’s different. It’s the same game — strike 1, out 1, 27 outs,” said Sale. “But pitching in the postseason, I think everyone knows is a little bit different. Last year I obviously got my feet wet. Didn’t do too well. But sometimes you learn from the bad more than the good. And that’s what I’m using.”
The fiercely competitive Sale swiped away any suggestion he should display amnesia about the start.
“I’m not going to hide from it, it is what it is. You can Google it now, tomorrow and 100 years and it’s going to be there, I own it, I accept it,” said Sale. “And like I said, I’m going to be better. I’m going to go do everything I can to be better. That’s all I can do. It’s not going to help me this year, not next year and definitely not tomorrow. So the work, the preparation and everything that’s gone into it is what’s going to get me through.”
All anyone wants to know is how Sale will get through his start tonight.
That nobody knows makes Sale look like a complete stranger and his entire plight even stranger.
Strange times.