Chris Sale hasn’t made a relief appearance since recording the final out of the 2018 World Series. While the hope is he’ll eventually return to the starting rotation, pitching coach Dave Bush wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Sale pitching, at least initially, out of the Red Sox’s bullpen.
“I think everything is on the table at this point,” Bush told beat reporter Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “If it suits him and us for him to come back sooner and in fewer innings and we have a bullpen that’s capable of absorbing the extra innings, then maybe that’s an option.”
Out since injuring his ribcage in spring training, Sale recently resumed throwing and is expected to face live hitters in the coming week, depending on how he feels after Friday’s bullpen session at the team’s spring training facility in Fort Myers. The 33-year-old will obviously need time to build up his pitch count through a minor-league rehab assignment, though, theoretically, he could return sooner if the Red Sox employ him as a reliever.
The Red Sox will have to determine whether Sale, who contributed a 3.16 ERA over nine starts in his return from Tommy John surgery last season, is more valuable to them as a starter or as a lefty arm out of the pen. Sale excelled as a reliever with the White Sox early in his career, logging a 2.58 ERA with 12 saves over his first two seasons before becoming their staff ace. That, of course, was over a decade ago, back when Sale’s fastball could touch triple-digits.
The prospect of Sale—assuming he’s open to it—solidifying a Red Sox pen that doesn’t even have a set closer at the moment is certainly an interesting hypothetical to ponder. However, it probably makes more sense for him to return as a starter, mostly because that would allow Garrett Whitlock to transition back into the bullpen, where he thrived earlier this year.
Whitlock’s move to the starting rotation has largely backfired (1-1, 4.15 ERA in nine starts), proving much better equipped as a multi-inning spark plug out of the pen. Whitlock and Tanner Houck would make for a formidable late-inning pairing, serving as a stabilizing force in a bullpen with few defined roles. Unfortunately, that will require patience and an acceptance Sale probably won’t go more than 4-5 innings most nights.
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