Chris Sale feels good. He is throwing every other day, although not yet off a mound. And while the Red Sox pitcher still won't allow for a definitive timetable in his return from Tommy John surgery, all signs point to a return sometime in the first half of the season.
This was the message he passed on when meeting with the media via Zoom Thursday morning.
"So far, so good," he said. "We’re back rolling. Good to be back in spring training doing some baseball stuff. As of now, I’m full go."
But the road back hasn't been without a couple of bumps in the road. First came a late-December neck issue, which was followed in the last few weeks by a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
As for the neck ailment, Sale explained that he managed the issue in order for it not to be a lingering problem.
"That kind of, wouldn’t say threw a wrench, but slowed things down a little bit," he noted. "We obviously got on top of it. Saw some doctors. Obviously we have a great training staff here. And like I said, I showed up yesterday just like anyone else, ready to go, doing baseball activities. PFPs. Throwing. My throwing program right now is every other day until that changes. It’s just nice to be back doing stuff again."
As for the positive COVID-19 test, Sale explained that he didn't have to deal with any severe illness but was, obviously, forced into quarantine.
"I got it like a few weeks ago, I don’t even remember, like right in the middle of January," Sale said. "So yeah, I obviously got taken away from that, but I did my two weeks and got back."
He added, "“I got lucky. I lost my taste and smell for about a week. I had a runny nose for a couple days. I don’t know if my fever got above 99. I had a real mild case.”
