Red Sox may use Chris Sale in bullpen upon lefty's return
BOSTON -- Chris Sale remains on the road back to a major league mound. That path may take a detour to the bullpen.
With the Red Sox now firmly in the mix for an AL wild-card spot, the team may need to strategize Sale's return differently. And pitching coach Dave Bush told The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey that a move to the bullpen is "on the table" for Sale when he is able to pitch again.
"We have to get to a point where he's facing hitters in a live game situation before we really look at that too much. That being said, I think everything is on the table at this point," Bush told McCaffrey. "If it suits him and us for him to come back sooner and in fewer innings and we have a bullpen that's capable of absorbing the extra innings, then maybe that's an option."
Sale is nearing a major step in his recovery from a broken rib suffered in February. He's due to face live hitters next week, after which a plan for some rehab appearances could be laid out.
Sale hasn't regularly worked out of the bullpen in the regular season since his first two seasons in the majors, 2010 and 2011. He made one relief appearance in 2012 but has only been a starter for the remainder of his regular-season career. Yet Sale did make two relief appearances for the Red Sox in the 2018 postseason, famously closing out the clinching game of the World Series in Los Angeles.
Sale hasn't done much pitching at all in recent years. He threw just 147.1 innings in 25 starts in 2019, before missing the entire 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery. He made just nine starts in 2021 before posting an 8.00 ERA in three postseason starts.
Without Sale, the Red Sox' rotation ranks fourth in the AL with a 3.56 ERA, third in the AL with a 1.14 WHIP, and fifth in the AL with a .230 opponents' batting average. The bullpen ranks eighth in the AL with a 3.74 ERA, sixth in opponents' batting average (.221), and sixth in WHIP (1.20).
