Chris Sale willing to do anything Red Sox want him to do as he works back from injury

BOSTON -- August is fast approaching, which means Chris Sale will soon be eligible to come off the 60-day injured list and return to the Boston Red Sox. The questions now are when will Sale be ready, and how will the team get him to where he needs to be?

If the team wants Sale to build up his arm strength in the minors so that he can make complete starts in the big leagues, it figures to be a time-consuming process. Yet whether the team wants that so Sale can resume his normal role, or if the team wants him to get in some shorter stints in the majors as part of his rehab and strengthening, the veteran left-hander is up for anything.

"If they want me coming back throwing two innings as an opener, I'm in. If they want me to build up to six innings, I'm in. If they want me coming out of the bullpen in the seventh inning, deal," Sale told The Boston Globe's Alex Speier after pitching to live hitters for the first time of his rehab work. "I want to come in here, do my work, do everything I can to get healthy as quickly as possible, and then it's up to them how they want to use me."

Sale joked that he has "a locker, not an office," so the decisions made by the coaching staff and front office are beyond his control. But his eagerness to rejoin a red-hot Red Sox team as soon as possible indicate that he's excited to help the team make a playoff push however he can.

Sale will be eligible to come off the IL on Aug. 1, though Speier reported that Sale's next step is likely a minor league appearance on that date.