Chris Sale Resumes Throwing Program At Red Sox Spring Training Complex
BOSTON (CBS) -- Major League Baseball is still on hiatus as the world deals with the coronavirus outbreak. But that isn't stopping Chris Sale from resuming his throwing program.
The injured Red Sox ace, sidelined with a flexor strain in his left elbow earlier this month, is back on his throwing program at the Red Sox spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida, the Boston Globe's Alex Speier reported Wednesday. It's the first time Sale has thrown since being shut down after his diagnosis.
Sale's 2020 season was already going to start late due to the lefty being sidelined earlier this spring with a bout of pneumonia. But his elbow came into question when he felt pain after facing live batters for the first time this spring, and he underwent an MRI on March 2. That revealed the flexor strain, and the team and Sale reached out to Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache to see if they recommended Tommy John surgery for the southpaw. They didn't, and Sale was ordered to stop throwing for two weeks.
Sale's health has been a big issue over the last two years, especially considering the 30-year-old is in the first year of a five-year, $145 million extension with Boston.
MLB canceled spring training and delayed the start of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus crisis, and isn't expected to resume anytime soon. That delay may actually help Sale in his quest to start the season for Boston.