Chris Sale will not throw until pain-free

The Boston Red Sox are taking it very slow with ace pitcher Chris Sale.

Interim manager Ron Roenicke said that Sale will not throw until he is completely pain-free as he works his way back from a flexor strain.

“[When he is] absolutely pain free,” Roenicke said, via Ian Browne and Dawn Klemish of MLB.com. “Like, today, I saw them in the training room going through exercises and probably testing out the elbow to make sure there’s nothing there.

“If there’s still pain there, we can’t have him start throwing. And I don’t mean just pain walking around. I mean, doing exercises and putting stress on it. I haven’t talked to [trainer] Brad [Pearson] this morning. I talked to one of the other trainers and they said he’s not going to throw today.”

Sale may not need surgery, but this is definitely a new timeline for the pitcher. It’s smart on Boston’s part, though, as they gain nothing if their star pitcher aggravates an injury early in the season.