Red Sox not placing timetable on Chris Sale’s latest injury recovery

The Boston Red Sox placed Chris Sale on the disabled list over the weekend for the second time in three weeks, and they are not planning to insert the left-hander back into their rotation until he is 100 percent healthy.

Alex Cora told reporters on Monday that Sale, who has been experiencing soreness in his throwing shoulder, has no timetable for a return. The Red Sox manager said the goal is for Sale to be “pain free” heading into the postseason.

“We’re not shooting for Fri or Sun, we’re shooting for whenever he’s ready….What we’re trying to accomplish is him being pain free…..We want them to be trending up in September not trending down.”

Cora on Sale

In other words…they want Sale to be 100% ready for Game 1

— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 20, 2018

While it is certainly a concern that Sale is having shoulder issues, it’s hard to get a read of how severe the injury is given that the Red Sox have such a sizable lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. Sale has a history of fading down the stretch throughout the career, so Boston could simply be trying to keep him as fresh as possible for the playoffs. They had a 9.5-game lead over the Yankees as of Monday, so they should be able to win the division even if Sale doesn’t pitch the rest of the regular season.

Sale was originally placed on the disabled list on July 31, and he spent the minimum time on the shelf before returning to pitch against the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 12. He struck out 12 batters in that game and allowed just one hit over five innings.