CLARITY EMERGES FOR SALE AFTER SURGERY
Pitcher talks about having operation during pandemic
In a strange way, Chris Sale is relieved and even a little bit happy.
The Red Sox lefthander has stared down the barrel of Tommy John surgery for a long time, and even more so after elbow inflammation ended his 2019 season early last summer. He seemed almost resigned to the fact that surgery was inevitable after suffering a setback during spring training last month. But now that it’s done with, Sale has something he didn’t have before: clarity. “It’s kind of funny to say this but I’m actually really happy with where I’m at right now,” Sale said Tuesday on a conference call. “I’ve been chasing a ghost for seven months right now or up to that point. To have a definitive answer, to have a finish line. … For me, this is the first hard answer I’ve had in a long time and at the end of the day I know what I’m getting. I know what’s at the end of this
road. …
“Now, like, obviously, this sucks. I’m putting my team in a tough situation. I’m relying on guys to pick up my slack, which is, you guys know, it’s not my style, it’s not my attitude, it’s not what I want. Moving forward. I now know that I can get after this rehab. It’s going to be nine to 14 months of just getting after it and being able to get my body back in shape and I’m going to have a better elbow than I did before. And that gives me confidence going forward.”
Even after the decision was made on March 19 that Sale needed Tommy John, though, it took even longer for his operation to actually be completed. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to surgeries viewed as elective around the country, so Sale needed to first find a doctor that was willing to perform the operation, which forced the delay, while also dealing with the optics of having elbow surgery in the middle of a global health crisis.
Sale finally had the surgery done on March 30 by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, where he was tested for COVID-19 before the operation. The pitcher insisted that he and ElAttrache left no stone unturned in being sure that it was right to have the surgery.
“That was a big part of it,” Sale said. “Dr. ElAttrache and his staff … they were on a daily conference call with people making sure that what we were doing would have zero effect on anybody else dealing with this virus. That was No. 1 until we got under the knife was making sure that this was A, going to be possible to do and B, this would not take away the slightest bit of anything from anybody having to deal with this because at the end of the day, a virus is much more important than fixing my bum elbow. ElAttrache made that point many, many times to me, that we have to do this the right way. …
“That was a big deal for us, to make sure that this was the right thing to do at the right time, that it wouldn’t affect anybody else that was suffering.”
When Sale spoke after his first setback in spring training, he was visibly frustrated. That’s because he said he had gone through three months of rehab during the offseason without any issues. Even after a case of pneumonia delayed his start to spring training, he felt that he had been trending upward and all signs pointed to him being
ready shortly after the season’s original start date.
But Sale said he wouldn’t change anything about the process, and doesn’t regret not getting the surgery done earlier. He’s at peace knowing he and the team did everything in their power to avoid getting the surgery.
“It didn’t work out but at the end of the day I know 100 percent that myself, the doctors, the Red Sox, everybody did everything we possibly could to make this work and I’m OK with that,” Sale said. “I’m more than OK with that.”
Sale, who’s at home in Florida, now turns his attention to an extensive rehab that will likely take 12-15 months before he returns. He’s still in an arm cast that he said will be taken off Thursday as he does some light work to begin his rehab.
Sale said he has leaned on teammates Nathan Eovaldi, Brandon Workman and Ryan Brasier — who have each had Tommy John surgeries — for support as he begins his recovery. Eovaldi, who’s had the procedure twice, has told Sale to set small goals as he starts a long journey.
And having been in the game a long time, and seeing pitchers come back from the surgery, Sale is confident he’ll be even stronger when he returns at some point in 2021.
“The one thing I’ve heard more than anything is the rehab process,” Sale said. “If you dedicate your time and effort into rehab- bing this the right way, not skipping any steps and doing things the right way, you’re going to be fine, if not better than before, so on that end of it, I have zero question in my ability to work this, in my work ethic. I have even more confidence in the people I’m surrounded by. …
“I have a lot of confi- dence going forward to know that my elbow is going to be better than it was before and hopefully I get 10 more great years out of it.”