Forty-eight innings.
That unimpressive number represents Chris Sale’s workload over the last three regular seasons. It isn’t likely to increase for a while, either. Sale could be out for the rest of the year after breaking a finger on his pitching hand Sunday.
It was a tough break: Aaron Hicks hit a scorching, 106.7 mile-per-hour line drive right back at Sale, and the ball ricocheted off his throwing hand. “It’s very frustrating,” said Sale, who lasted just two-thirds of an inning and was charged with three runs in the Red Sox’ 13-2 loss to the Yankees. “Elbow surgery for a pitcher is not uncommon, right? That happens with the job, with what we’re doing. We deal with that. Some of this other stuff, you think, ‘Why me?’”
That’s where Sale loses some validity to his pity party. Yes, it was bad luck to get smashed by a line drive Sunday, But since 2018, he’s missed time due to Tommy John surgery, shoulder inflammation, elbow inflammation, and most recently, a rib stress fracture.
Sale’s extension might be the worst in Red Sox history, and the worst part is, his injury-riddled future wasn’t hard to predict.
Sale was even breaking down at the end of the 2018 season, his second with the Red Sox. While we all remember his World Series-clinching strikeout of Manny Machado, he started only five games after July 27. Sale threw just 13.1 innings in three playoff starts.
With his lanky frame and violent delivery, Sale routinely trailed off in the second half earlier in his career with the White Sox, too. His incredibly high workload — three straight years of 200+ innings from 2015-17 — made him a prime candidate to break down. Everybody could see that.
But the Red Sox were undeterred. They signed Sale to a five-year, $145 million extension prior to the 2019 campaign. Prior to those negotiations, John Henry admitted the team “blew” negotiations with beloved ace Jon Lester. Sale told Rob Bradford this year he thanks Lester for his big pay day.
“We went to Chicago later that year and we were working out in the weight room over at their place and I was kind of waiting to see him in the weight room or in passing or whatever but I didn’t," Sale said. "I was like, ‘Whoever sees Lester first, tell him I said, ‘Thank you.’”
In other words, a bad event resulted in a reactionary signing. That’s been the case for most of the worst deals in Red Sox history, with Carl Crawford (five years, $145 million), Pablo Sandoval (five years, $95 million) and Rusney Castillo (seven years, $70 million) highlighting the infamous list.
The Crawford signing came on the heels of the 2010 season, in which ownership reportedly whined about the team lacking “sexy guys.” So Theo Epstein splurged on Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. Fittingly, the final image of that season was Crawford missing a line drive during the season finale in Baltimore, which officially eliminated the Red Sox from playoff contention.
Sandoval, who was signed in-tandem with Hanley Ramirez after another last-place finish in 2014, never played a meaningful late-season game with the Sox. He slashed a dreadful .245/.292/.366 in 2015, and only played in three contests the following season.
Castillo, meanwhile, played in just 99 games with the Red Sox. Rattled by missing out on Jose Abreu, ownership swooped in on Castillo, and vastly overpaid for a bodybuilder trying to play baseball.
In terms of total flops, it’s hard to be worse than Castillo. But Sale’s non-existent production over the last three years matches the worst of Crawford and Sandoval.
That’s definitely worth bemoaning.
