Chris Sale, the Red Sox lanky left-handed starting pitcher, will miss his third straight opening day after suffering a stress fracture in his rib.Sale told reporters he suffered a fracture in his right ribcage while throwing live batting practice at Florida Gulf Coast University, his alma mater, on February 17.The Red Sox weren't allowed to communicate with Sale during the lockout, thus the team found out about the injury last Thursday.The rib fracture could easily take six-to-eight weeks to heal, but then there's a ramp-period. That could put Sale out for two-to-three months, according to the ProBaseballDocs.Given that the injury happened in mid-February, Sale's fractured rib has already had four weeks to heal. However, rib fractures are worrisome for pitchers because of the rotational motion involved in throwing. It is somewhat unusual for a pitcher and the first thing for the medical staff to do is analyze why it happened. The intercostal muscle/oblique likely played a role in the stress fracture and will need to be assessed before Sale can begin rehabbing the injury.Oblique injuries are always a red flag for pitchers and this is a longer recovery process than an oblique.The injury leaves the Red Sox without the star lefty for yet another big chunk of the season. Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and returned late in the 2021 season.The seven-time All-Star made nine regular season starts for the Red Sox last season, then had three appearances in the playoffs.He had a 3.16 ERA in his regular season starts, but struggled in the playoffs. Sale allowed 8 earned runs in his 8.2 innings in the playoffs.Nathan Eovaldi will now start opening day for Boston, followed by Nick Pivetta, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill. Young righties Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock will likely compete to fill Sale's spot in the rotation.The Red Sox finished 92-70 last season. The team's projected win total prior to the Sale injury was 85.5.