Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been plagued by injury all season, with the latest coming in Sunday’s loss to the New York Yankees.
Sale confirmed after the game that he suffered a fractured pinky finger after being struck by a line drive in Sunday’s defeat. The injury occurred in what was only Sale’s second start off the injured list after missing the first three months of the season with a stress fracture in his rib cage.
After the game, Sale was asked if he found it unbelievable that he had been injured again so soon after returning from his previous one. The 33-year old gave a brutally blunt response about the difficulties he has had getting healthy in 2022.
“No, it’s par for the course honestly,” Sale said, via Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. “Think about it. Think about my timeline. It’s just been s–t after s–t after s–t. It’s more s–t to deal with. What can you do? Everyone gets knocked down, it’s how you get back up.”
Sale can hardly be blamed for his frustration at this point. He suffered the rib cage injury in February, but the initial hope was that he would return by June. A setback in May ultimately wound up costing him another month. Even his rehab outing was eventful, though not for any injury-related reasons.
Sale has made just 11 starts for the Red Sox since the end of the 2019 season, and has not hit the 30-start mark since 2017, his first campaign with the team. This latest injury is expected to keep him out four-to-six weeks, which gives him a chance of returning for the September stretch run.
