Chris Sale: 'If I'm On The Mound, I'm 100 Percent'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Chris Sale's health status has been a question mark for the better part of three months. Whether it's been precautionary rest on his shoulder, a hospital stay for a stomach illness, or the not-at-all serious ascription of belly-button ring irritation, Sale has come a long way from his Cy Young-worthy spring and summer.
And with an up-and-down pair of starts this postseason, as well as a scratched start for Game 5 of the ALCS, there's a lot of mystery regarding which Chris Sale will show up for Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. That uncertainty has many people concerned. Chris Sale, though, is not one of them.
"If I'm on the mound, I'm 100 percent," Sale said Monday at Fenway.
Considering Sale lasted just four innings when he started Game 1 of the ALCS, he was asked how many innings he believes he can pitch on Tuesday against the Dodgers.
"As many as we need. There's no holding back now," Sale said. "I think my job's been the same since the first day I got here. You hand me the ball when you want me to throw it, and you take it out of my hand when you want me stop. That's what I'm going with."
Sale also said that he was going to pitch Game 6 of the ALCS if the series got that far.
"I was ready to go then, I'm ready to go now," Sale said.
While Sale was all business on Monday, he did manage to laugh when a reporter informed him that Brock Holt planned on getting nipple rings and belly-button rings if the Red Sox can manage to win the World Series.
"Hey, that's just what I do," Sale chuckled. "Fashionista, I guess."